Gateway Future
by Iniora Nackatori
Summary: Rated for cursing only. A mysterious young girl found in the wreckage of a destroyed Autobot base leads to a mystery which could hold The Key... AU Energon. COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1: Key to the Gate

Hi, everybody! This is Iniora saying, I've done as you asked and changed Inferno's name to... Blaze! I've also done a bit of editing on the chapters and, as an extra bonus, have a new chapter for you all.

Since I'm reposting everything, let me put up the disclaimers.

A) I do not own Energon.

B) I do not own the Invaders

C) I do not own the Gatekeepers concept – I just own the characters I introduce and a very few of their gates.

D) This may not be a disclaimer, but it still needs to be here anyway. Hot Shot (who shows up later) is the Hot Shot from Armada, only with the flame decals. Whoever drew the Energon Hot Shot needs to go stick his head in a toilet somewhere and give himself a swirl for that horrible rendition of everyone's favorite cocky bot – well, favorite right up there next to Hot Rod.

Now that that's done, let's get with the editing!

_**Gateway Future**_

Key to the Gate

There was an impenetrable silence that filled the halls and made any and all communication between neighboring units impossible. A small light flickered on at the end of the tunnel and began to grow in rhythm to the sound of strong metallic beatings echoing across the slivery smooth metallic floor. The shadows cast back against the growing light reviled a metallic monster at least forty feet high with a young teen dressed in what looked like a muscular tight-fitting space suite sitting on the metallic being's shoulder. The teen released an annoyed sigh at the same time the metal monster did, but unlike his metallic companion, the boy ran his hand through his rat-nest style brown hair.

"Man!" the robot huffed, "This bites!"

"No joke!" the boy sighed. A soft whimpering made the robot stop in his tracks and the boy blink in shock.

"Hey, Kicker, did you hear that...?" the robot whispered.

"Yeah, Ironhide, I did...." Kicker whispered. The moan echoed again, softer this time and followed by the sound of fabric ruffling in the wind. "Turn up the lights..."

Ironhide complied and soon a miniature sun was blazing on his left shoulder. He rotated his body in a slow, even pattern, shining the light across the floor in a cautious dance. His light passed over something black and tattered, making Kicker jump off his shoulder and shout,

"Ironhide, call a medic!" Ironhide soon saw why, for a small female child beaten, bruised, and covered in ashy-grey dust was reviled under the pile of black Ironhide's light had passed only moments before.

"No can do, Kicker; the com was kicked out, remember? We'll have to take her out ourselves." Ironhide countered. He slowly descended down to boy and child's height and gently scoped the wounded into his hand. Kicker took his accustomed perch on Ironhide's right shoulder again before the robot deemed it safe to proceed back the way he had come.

* * *

Voices. Soft, kind, scary voices. The kind of voices you want to see but are afraid of seeing. A soft blackness and a warm light echoed against her eyelids, making her wince. She raised her hand to block out the bright lights that now stung at her eyes like knives, only to have it caught by a stronger hand and richer voice.

"It'd be a bad idea to rub your eyes right now. Your arm's in a cast." the voice informed her. She wanted to pout then at the owner of the voice, for he had an edge of teasing wrapped secretively in his voice that she disliked. She heard the noise of chair legs scrapping against the surface of what seemed like a metallic floor followed by the soft hum of a generator slowing down. "I've dimmed the lights some. See if you can open your eyes now."

She tried opening her eyes again, only to see that she was in a white room on a flat bed lying directly under a bright science light bulb, which had been turned down to twilight brightness. The first thought to come to mind was that she was on a dissecting table. The second and most pressing was that she had to run, now!

She tried to get up off the table and to bolt for the door, but a strong being wearing a smooth metallic outfit grabbed her tight and deposited her back on the bed. She shut her eyes tight again and struggled to get out of the being's grip and away from the strange dissecting room.

"Hey! What's the big idea?! You shouldn't be up yet!" the voice ordered. Her one good hand made contact with his check, creating an echoing sound of flesh on flesh that seemed to reverberate through the whole room. Her eyes opened wide in shock, the lights snapped back on as if in reflex, and the being she had hit, a teen with rat-nest style brown hair, was looking wide eyed at the ground with a bright red pulsating bruise forming on his cheek. The boy's gloved hand slowly reached up to touch the spot he had been hit at, and with what seemed like the speed of a snail, he turned wide-eyed to face her. Thinking she was in for another beating, the girl shut her eyes tight and pulled herself back against the wall the table was imbedded in.

"Kicker!" The boy whirled around to face the metallic being that had flipped on the lights to full brightness upon hearing the slap and gave it a victory sign.

"Tell Red I know how she made it through the attack, Ironhide. She's got a hell of a lot of spunk!" Kicker laughed teasingly. Ironhide blinked, looking from the now formed black and blue bruise on Kicker's cheek to the huddling girl in bandages that was pulling the blanket she had been provided tight against her heart with her one good arm.

"That may not be the medical reason why she survived, but it is a reason." a different, aged voice chuckled from behind Ironhide. A silver metallic being walked in next, his features old and brimming with the wisdom of the ages and his eyes were hidden behind a single red visor. Instead of having two hands, he had one normal one and one that looked almost looked like a laser torch. This elder shooed kicker away from the scared girl and gently extended his normal hand. "Good morning, miss. You'll have to excuse Kicker for his lack of maturity; he's the spoiled kid around base."

"I am not!" Kicker pouted instantly. The silver giant chuckled,

"See what I mean?" The girl smiled lightly as well, hiding her innocent giggle under the folds of the covers. "Would you mind coming with me for a moment? It's time to see how well your wounds have healed."

The girl nodded, slowly stretching her long thin body off the bed and into the silver giant's hand. Her black hair seemed to echo in the revived light of the room, tossing out into play the streaks of silvery white that streamed through its length. Her eyes were another mystery in themselves for one was a normal dark brown and the other looked almost a silver white, although it appeared as if she could see through both perfectly. Kicker couldn't help but stair after her, lost in the glow of her ivory skin. Ironhide came up behind him and tapped him 'gently' on the shoulder, making him double over in shock.

"Hey, come on! We've got to go relieve Demolisher on gate duty." Ironhide complained.

"Alright, alright! But next time don't send me sprawling!!" Kicker jumped, lunging up to his perch on Ironhide's shoulder.

"I didn't!"

"Yeah yah did!"

"Did not!"

"Did to!"

"Not!"

"To!"

"Not!"

"To!"

"Not!"

"To!"

"Not!"

"To!!"

"Will the both of you shut up?!"

"Sorry Jet Fire,"

* * *

It seemed a little strange to the girl that a giant robot so large and obviously powerful would be able to tend to her wounds and remove the cast on her arm and bandages on her head with such a gentle caress she almost giggled when he passed over her tickle spot on her belly. Her fight against laughter did not go unnoticed.

"A little ticklish I see," the robot chuckled lightly. Once her bandages were removed, the robot pulled back slightly behind a large metallic control panel. A small wire-like beam of energy covered the girl for a moment before disappearing as fast as it had appeared. "Good. All of your injuries have fully healed." He turned to look at her and added, "Looks like all your wounds needed was those four days asleep in bed."

"I've been asleep for four days!!??" the girl squeaked, then was instantly silent with a rosy red blush blooming on her cheeks. The giant smiled.

"Yes; you're lucky to be alive with the concussion you received from the falling debris." He bent down by her side again and smiled, "I'm sorry, I've forgotten to introduce myself. My name is Red Alert."

"Erin," she whispered. Red Alert could only smile at her shyness.

"Why don't you stay here for a while, Erin, and I'll go see if we have any spare cloths that would fit you?" Red Alert offered. Erin nodded a hasty thanks, her eyes not once leaving the ground in shyness. Red Alert's topic of cloths had made her painfully aware of her own attire, or lack there of.

* * *

Kicker stopped dead in his tracks. The girl he had stared after not more than half an hour ago was standing at the front of the base as if lost or waiting for someone. But it wasn't the fact the girl was outside – oh no, that wasn't what made his heart thump and his hands clammy. It was her newly acquired outfit; he instantly wanted to know where she had gotten it.

The black flowers tucked in a folded corner of her hair rustled in the wind as too did the long sleeves of her pure white kimono. Flower petals seemed to comprise the sash she wore around her waist creating a flowering bow behind her with long streamers that stopped only about half a foot away from the edges of her traditional sandals. This simple yet elegant sash tied the white of the sleeves and the black of the dress together like a masterpiece painting. In her hand held loose as if she hardly remembered it was there was a small oriental fan comprised of blue and sea green with small hints of red near the center. Kicker had seen such a fan before and knew that the interior was an Autobot symbol centered in the middle of a calm sea.

Kicker licked his hand and pushed back his hair, puffed up his chest, took one step foreword, and was stopped by Ironhide's foot crashing down before him, both blocking his view of the angel and squishing his dreams all in one sad moment.

"Don't even think about it, Kicker. Optimus is meeting with her now." Ironhide warned him. Kicker glared at the giant robot, his disgust echoing through more than just his eyes. Kicker's sudden outburst caused Erin to blink, looking over at the boy and robot in question. Kicker's cheeks suddenly went bright red and he began laughing embarrassedly upon noticing her blank stair at him. Erin's own cheeks blushed and she unfurled her fan, blocking the blush from view. The sound of a foot landing behind her, along with familiar laughing, caused her to turn around and look up. There, towering above her, was Optimus Prime.

"You'll have to excuse Kicker, Miss. Erin; there hasn't been a young fem on this base for quite a long while." Optimus laughed. Erin blushed twice as bad, almost burning a hole in the fan with the heat of her still rising blush. Optimus chuckled yet again. He nodded to Kicker in recognition of the fact that boys would be boys before ushering Erin inside. Kicker released a sigh he hadn't realized he'd been holding back.

"...Man...She's the cutest thing I've ever seen..." Kicker whispered.

"Cuter than your mother?" Ironhide blinked.

"Ew, Ironhide!"

"What? What I say??"

* * *

"...And that is what we believed happened to you." Optimus concluded solemnly. Erin looked down at the ground and he could tell she was fighting back tears.

"...So many...innocent lives..." he thought he heard her whisper, though her lips never seemed to move. A small tear confirmed his suspicions that she had been deeply touched by the loss of life. Without a word, she rose from her seat and started for the door.

"...Thank you...Good bye..." Erin whispered softly. Before Optimus could stop her from leaving, she had bolted for the door. He released a gentle sigh before slamming his fist down into the table and cursing at himself for telling her in such an emotionless manner. Now she probably believed that it was her fault so many had died in the Energon Raid.

Erin ran out the door as fast as she could, her eyes shut tight against the tears that threatened to fall. There was a loud thud as she ran head first into a hard metallic leg. She sniffled back her tears, looking up at the being she had run into. He was tall and red with hints of silver and gold adding interesting flares to his armor. Similar to Red Alert, this robot had both of his eyes hidden behind a red visor, only this visor seemed less kind and more demanding like a warrior that had seen far too many of his friends fall on the battle field. Despite his dark looks, the robot chuckled lightly at Erin and offered her a digit up.

"Yah don't have to be afraid of me kid," the robot smiled. Erin sniffled again, looking up wide-eyed at the giant. As if guessing her mode, the robot smiled, "Prime told yah about that base you were found at, huh?"

Erin lowered her eyes and nodded, "Yes," so softly the robot had to strain his audio receptors to hear her. He smiled at her gently, lifting her off the ground and depositing her gently on his shoulder. She sat there for a few moments, staring blankly at the corner of his optic visor. He looked back at her and smiled,

"I bet you're hungry, huh? I'll take yah down to the mess hall." As he began to walk down the hall, the rhythmic pattern of his feet against the metal echoed more than just a gentle clang.

"...You don't like being grounded..." Erin whispered. The robot looked back at her with a puzzled look before raising his left hand and chuckling,

"Yeah. The name's Jet Fire; I'm the Air Commander around here." Jet Fire introduced himself.

"My name's Erin Topaz..." Erin answered. She curled in against Jet Fire's ear and closed her eyes, listening to the sounds of his feet echo against the wall. When they arrived at their destination, Jet Fire set her down as carefully as if she were a China doll.

Jet Fire directed her to a seat that seemed to have been specially designed for a human and Transformer to sit at the same height. Once seated, the chair Erin was in levitated to the main portion of the table and made it so that she was sitting even with Jet Fire's chest. A small menu popped out of the table in front of her while another larger menu jumped out in front of Jet Fire. The sudden appearance of a fold out menu in her hands startled her slightly, making her jump a few inches out of her chair. Jet Fire simply laughed, taking the larger menu of the two and opening it before him.

"I'll have the unleaded," Jet Fire joked. He tapped his finger against the menu and returned it to the slot it had ejected from. Erin blinked, looking at the menu. Her mouth almost watered in shock at the variety of foods they had to choose from. She tapped her finger against the picture of the chicken strips and caramel cream soda and returned the menu to the slot it had come from.

"So, Erin, why were you running from Prime's office?" Jet Fire questioned calmly. Erin looked up at him for a moment, looking past the crimson red of his visor straight back into his optics. Her oddly colored eyes twinkled slightly on the verge of tears, making Jet Fire blink. "Oh...I get it..." He reached his hand across the table and laid a digit on her shoulder. "That attack wasn't your fault."

"...Wasn't it...?" Erin whispered, turning her gaze from him. He pushed her chin up to look at him in the optic again.

"It wasn't. The Decepticons and Terracons have been running raids like that for months now. They're getting desperate to steal as much Energon from us as they can." Jet Fire explained, a soft smile on his lips.

"Energon?" Erin blinked. Right on cue, their meals arrived via a floating robotic waiter. Small cubes by Jet Fire's standards that glowed an err purple color were placed before Jet Fire, where as a small basket of chicken strips battered and fried to perfection and a tall caramel cream root bear float were set delicately before Erin.

"This is Energon," Jet Fire explained. He lifted one of the cubes up off his plate and took a bite out of it. Erin watched with wide eyes as the purple glow flooded halfway out of the cube and down Jet Fire's gullet much like her caramel cream float had vanished down her own gullet a few moments ago. "It's pure refined energy that's clean burning, meaning that it doesn't cause any excess pollution. This is what powers all Transformers, along with everything else we've got here at base. How's the meal?"

This sudden topic jump made Erin blink. She looked blankly down at the half eaten basket, then back up at Jet Fire with an embarrassed rosy blush.

"I never even noticed I'd eaten it..." she whispered, blushing. Jet Fire blinked at that one.

"From the way you gulped that down, I'd say you hadn't had anything to eat in a while." Erin hid her face as well she could, diverting her eyes from Jet Fire's stern truth-telling glare. Jet Fire laughed, "Ah, I'm just joking with yah! Kicker's twice as fast an eater as you, so I shouldn't be surprise. You are just growing kids after all!"

Erin forced a small embarrassed laugh, all the while fighting back a sigh of relieve. For a few moments, she had feared that Jet Fire had hit the bull's eye about her past. Caution was going to have to be the name of her game, at least till she could slip away into the past again.


	2. Chatper 2: The Locked Door

_**Gateway Future**_

The Locked Door

Alarms, confusion, pain, suffering. She raced down the hall behind a younger robot, racing to where she could help in some small way. When she caught sight of Jet Fire and Red Alert, she veered off course and ran as fast as she could down to where they were.

"Damn it! They really must be getting desperate!" Jet Fire cursed.

"Either that or they're close to their goal." Red Alert glared. The sound of a human painting heavily caught their attention. Red Alert was the first to recognize the girl leaning against the wall, panting as if she had just run a marathon. "Erin! You should go back inside quickly!" She stood straight up and nodded her head no.

"If you want to help, then head back inside. You remember where the med room was?" Jet Fire demanded of her. Erin seemed to pause for a few moments, nodding slowly in agreement. "Good. Go with Red Alert back to the med center. There'll be wounded and casualties coming soon." Jet Fire quickly transformed into a futuristic red space shuttle. "Clear the pad for launch!"

Red Alert took Erin in his hand and ran back inside the compound. Erin looked out at Jet Fire as he tore through the sky, his blasters already burning red with the constant use. His enemies were flying pterodactyls colored green and black adorned with a sharp looking purple face somewhere on their bodies. Their very presence brought back memories Erin had tried hard to block out; memories of people screaming, of men opening fire on innocent lives with machine guns hidden in suitcases. She bit down on the end of her fingernail in worry as more monsters charged out through the walls, these ones resembling black and green wolves. Luckily for her, Red Alert's secondary hand had a less domestic use. He sliced through the four wolves with ease.

"Looks like they've broken in..." Red Alert whispered. He looked down at Erin, who looked up at him with eyes pleading for the loss of life to end. "Don't worry; those Terracons don't really have a conscious. They've got nothing but programming and an energy core; they have no heart or soul." Erin nodded in understanding. Once glance at the twitching paw of the Terracon wolf made her cringe.

"...Let's hurry..." she whispered.

"Right," Red began his dance past Terracon intruders, running at top speed to the medical center located in the center of Autobot City.

* * *

Twenty minutes later and the once giant rooms were filled with those from the lightly wounded to the dead and dying. Red Alert worked as hard as he could, repairing the most sever injuries first before moving on to the minor wounds. Despite having little medical knowledge, or so she claimed, Erin almost seemed like a gift from Primus to the wounded. Her small hands worked with a surgeon's skill over the wounds of those close to death, and after every check by Red Alert, the wound seemed to have healed from its previous fatal condition.

"Oh no...!" Erin whispered just above an echo. Red Alert paused from the minor injury he was repairing and followed her frozen stair. He cursed.

"Damn it, Jet Fire!" Red cursed under his breath. He passed the wound to another secondary repair unit before bolting over to the injured shuttle. He was fighting back against medical staff, claiming that his wound which was a giant gash across his front torso was nothing life-threatening.

"Jet Fire, sit down before I'm forced to sedate you!" Red Alert boomed.

"I'm fine, Red! There are others that need your help more than me!" Jet Fire countered. His hand went across the center of the gash and he doubled over slightly.

"Jet Fire, sit down, please...!"

"Oh shut up and go help someone else! I'm fine!" Jet Fire snapped. Red Alert was about to counteract that statement when his young nursing aid did so for him.

Erin's fan snapped closed on her palm, creating an echoing slam that stopped both robots from exchanging curses. She glared at Jet Fire with a stair that seemed to freeze his spark. Something about that stair pinned him down and froze him solid, making his instincts scream that ticking their new guest off was a bad idea.

"Sit," Her voice was twice as cold as her glare, if that were possible, and left no room for argument. Jet Fire gulped and obeyed. "Stay still and let Red Alert tend to your wounds. The remainder of the life-threatening cases have been dealt with, so he's free to repair you. I don't want to have to use this tone of voice again, got it?" and she tagged on as if it were an after thought, "Sir?" Jet Fire gulped and nodded in agreement, tagging on,

"Yes ma'am."

Erin suddenly became bright again, a warm smile splitting the ice cold moment in two. She gave a shy giggle and excused herself from the elder warrior and medic's presence. The two elders exchanged a look of shock.

* * *

Deep within the confines of space, a top-hat shaped ship floated in what seemed like aimless patterns. It went starboard at one moment, towards the aft the next, then so far forward that only a trail of space dust was left behind it. The ship suddenly stopped, almost as if looking around for something. It glowed bright gold for a moment then returned to looking pure black. Two aerial Terracons flew past it, grabbing one side of the ship each and towing it to a large pile of floating silver space debris. A door in the center of a metallic orb opened, flooding out golden light into the darkness of space. The two Terracons released the ship, sending it on a collision course with the glowing door of light. Once the ship was lost inside the door's glow, the door sealed shut and the universe stood still.

* * *

Kicker finally had his dream. Both he and Erin were alone on the upper observation tower of Ocean City looking out at the repair robots working like busy ants on restoring the main ocean bridge.

"It's a beautiful night, huh?" Kicker questioned nonchalantly. Erin looked out at him from the corner of her eye, a sparkle there Kicker was quick to note upon. "I never got a chance to say that you look absolutely lovely in that kimono. Where'd yah get it?"

Erin blushed lightly, returning her gaze to staring blankly down at the ground. She fought back a gasp as a larger green robot with the same purple symbol the attackers had worn walked out of Ocean City. He yelled at the smaller repair robots in harsh orders to hurry up; he even threatened to report them for 'lolly-gagging' if they didn't speed up on repairs. Kicker looked down at what had caused Erin to go so stiff and sighed.

"Hey, Demolisher, take it easy! They're working as fast as they can!" Kicker shouted. Demolisher looked up at them in a glare before sighing and returning to look at the repair robots. One of them had been caught under some loose debris. Demolisher blinked for a moment, then laughed slightly as he rendered aid to the smaller robot.

"Be carefully, okay?" he ordered, smiling. The repair robot nodded in agreement before instantly returning to work. Kicker released a huff, waving the robot off.

"Don't worry about that big lug. His name's Demolisher; he's the only trustworthy Decepticon in the lot and he's the only one that hasn't defected to Scorponoc's side."

"Scorponoc?" Erin blinked, looking at Kicker with a blank expression.

"Yeah. He's the Decepticon claming that the old Decepticons' leader, Galvatron, is still alive." Kicker sighed, turning his back so that he could lean against the railing. "I've got a bad feeling that he's just using them to bolster his own gains, though." Erin looked at Kicker for a moment. Her eyes began to glisten in understanding and her hand was closed delicately over her heart. She looked down at Demolisher, at the false smile he tried to use to mask his sadness for being forced to fight his friends, and seemed to understand all of his pain.

"...Being used...is painful beyond words..." Kicker blinked at that, looking over at her with a puzzled expression. Erin closed her eyes, huffed, and turned towards the door.

"Hey, where yah goin'?" Kicker jumped. Erin gave no answer.

Her movement was almost as fluid as water. The bow of her kimono sash fluttered in the wind like an angel's wings, leaving an almost glowing trail for any being to follow. It was with a noiseless grace that she walked outside and approached the still smiling Demolisher. He blinked, looking down at her.

"Oh, you're the kid found at Plane City!" Demolisher jumped. "Is there something I can do for you, ma'am?"

"No... Do you mind if I sit here for a while?" Erin questioned, her voice as smooth and controlled as velvet. Demolisher smiled again and nodded that he had no complaint to her sitting on one of the rebuilt pillars. He even helped her reach her perch.

Demolisher directed the repairs while Erin sat in complete silence. He would laugh every now and then at the seemingly humorous antics of the repair robots, but it would never be a true laugh. Erin released a sigh, making Demolisher look back at her.

"You should head back inside, ma'am; it's a cold night tonight." Demolisher warned.

"It's even colder if you're alone," Erin whispered. Demolisher blinked, looking at her eyes with a distant expression. After what seemed like hours, he sighed and turned to stair at the ground.

"...Yeah..." he looked back at her and added, "You can't imagine how it's like, you just being a human and all... I mean...I'm torn between wanting to revive Galvatron and what I know is the truth... But Scorponoc's got proof that Galvatron's alive, and that makes it even harder for me to decide what to do..."

"What's his proof?"

"Galvatron's sword, the Black Star Saber..." Demolisher looked up towards the heavens then, releasing an icy sigh. "I swore an oath to Galvatron that I would forever be loyal to him and him alone. Not even death would stop me from fulfilling that oath... Maybe..." Erin's fan snapped shut then, and she shouted,

"No, you shouldn't! Scorponoc has no real proof! It's just as easy to take a sword from a dead man as one stuck in a coma; for all you know, he stole that sword from a corpse." Demolisher's head snapped back to look at her, a mix of fear and shock echoing in his optics. Erin returned the stair with her own piercing glare. She released a sigh, closing her once cold eyes and melting back into a quite serenity. "...You're right...I have no knowledge in the matters that deal with Transformers...I was just tiered and I snapped, that's all. I apologize if I hurt your feelings, sir."

Erin gracefully fell off the pillar back onto the bridge. She bowed once more to Demolisher before excusing herself to her room. Demolisher stared after her as she vanished deep into the shadows of the Ocean Base. Her words haunted him even through his recharge cycle.

* * *

The door to the top hat opened ominously. Black light that seemed to devourer the bindingly white light inside the docking port oozed out like a ramped plague from the inside of the ship. A single silver outline walked forward through the black light. It was a tall being wearing shades and a black top hat. His suite was pressed tight in even creases and his shoes looked to have been spit shined. It looked around the docking bay with an emotionless face.

"Welcome, Commander, to my heart. I am Unicron." a voice full of darkness and hatred echoed around the otherwise empty docking bay.

"I know who you are," the being spoke in a voice that seemed as empty as the voice that had reverberated before, only somehow, it seemed twice as dark. Also, the speaker never once moved his lips. "Why is it you sent your Terracons to kidnap my ship?"

"I have a...business position for you, Commander; one that will prove beneficial to both our parties." The being seemed to smirk in a fashion that had any living being with heart seen it, they would have felt their heart stop in fear.

"You have my attention,"

* * *

The early morning sunshine bounced around her like a glowing ball, illuminating the kimono and making it glow as if it were a soft light bulb. Kicker sneaked up behind her, tapping her teasingly on the shoulder. She whirled around with closed fan in hand as if to counter an attack, but instantly loosened her tight grip on the fan when she saw it was only Kicker. He was dressed in a blue open button down t-shirt, white under shirt, tan kaki pants and white tennis shoes.

"Hey, I just checked with Prime and he said we could go down to the city for a while and catch a movie." Kicker laughed, pushing his blue shades up above his temples. Erin giggled lightly at the idea and instantly agreed. "Great! Red Alert found some street cloths for yah. So, why don't you go get out of that kimono and I'll meet you at the gate, kay?"

Erin nodded yes and seemed to vanish within the nightly folds of Ocean City. It was only after she vanished that Kicker noticed a glimmering jeweled bracelet resting on the balcony she had been leaning against. He blinked in confusion at it, then gently slipped it over his wrist. Laughing that it was perfect with his outfit and promising to himself that he'd return the bracelet that was obviously Erin's as soon as the time was right, he walked back inside the base and made his way to the front gate.

* * *

Jet Fire stared blankly at the opposing wall, his optics unfocused and his mind wandering in confused circles. That strange girl, Erin... He'd been receiving reports that despite her gentle and shy nature, if she was angered to a certain point, the source of that anger was verbally reprimanded with such a cold glare that, as one junior who had nearly started a fist fight in her presence put it,

"Fighting the whole Decepticon army one on one seemed easier than facing her."

A sudden knock at his door made him blink. Jet Fire stood quickly, echoing that whomever it was could come in now. The door stayed shut, making Jet Fire blink. He walked to the door and opened it, looking around to see who it was. A rather odd red gem shaped limply like a bracelet was resting on the floor in front of his door. Jet Fire blinked at it. He picked it up gently. An odd idea came to him and he slipped it over his wrist. It instantly contracted to fit his wrist perfectly – just loose enough to remove it if he ever wanted to but tight enough that it wouldn't interfere with his transforming mechanisms. Considering that it made a nice addition to his paint job, he shrugged, closed his door, and returned to his pondering.

* * *

A sudden knock at his door made the medic blink.

"Come in," Red Alert ordered in an emotionless baritone. The door remained closed. Curiosity soon drove him to his feet and he manually opened the door. Peaking his head out, he questioned if anyone was still around. The glint and glimmer of a sky blue stone caught his attention. Red Alert blinked at it, picking it up off the ground. He put it over his wrist in an experimental fashion and gasped when it shrunk to fit him perfectly. Curiosity overrode his pervious thoughts as he returned inside. He took the gem off carefully and set it under a high powered Transformer sized microscope. Several scans later and he still had no answers to the puzzling mystery of the crystal bracelet.

* * *

"Then it's agreed," the man in the top hat stated, his lips never moving.

"Agreed," The top hat man shook hands with what seemed like air. He turned back to his ship and closed the door. The second being barked out orders to a shadowed metallic creature hidden in the background of the shuttle bay that jumped up to its clawed feet and bowed in compliance to its new orders. The scorpion-looking beast dashed off as fast as it could, leaving a smoking trail of metallic dust in its path.

"We commence strike in twelve earth hours. Be ready, Commander."

"My group has been ready since the beginning of time, Unicon. Just be sure the enemy is thoroughly distracted with the Renegade before engaging their command base."

"Of cores, so long as you remember to take out Ocean City first, Commander."

"Done,"

"And done. Soon both our enemies will be nothing more than painful memories..."

The glowing white door of the metallic sphere opened, admitting the top hat shuttle to depart the docking bay. It flew off, this time with a destination in mind.


	3. Chapter 3: The Furry of Silence

_**Gateway Future**_

The Furry of Silence

Kicker could tell just by looking at her that she was enjoying the fresh city air. They enjoyed ice-cream cones together, watched the latest action adventure movie together, and even got in the middle of a water gun fight. By the end of the three hours they were aloud out on the town away from Autobot supervision, Erin's black tank top and white jeans had dulled to an almost grey color, though the red sash on her right forearm and the silver almost string-width headband around her forehead seemed as bright as when their city-bound adventure started.

"Isn't this great, Erin?" Kicker laughed. Erin giggled again, her eyes bright with happiness. "Hey, it's getting late. Prime'll get ticked if we don't start heading back home soon."

Erin nodded in agreement, and the two slowly began to walk home. It was about noon, the sky was clear and the seaside path they took reflected the sunlight against their skin with the harshness of a gentle kiss. It was only then that Kicker remembered the gem bracelet he had found on the balcony earlier that morning.

"I think this is yours," Kicker blushed, extending his wrist. Erin giggled, nodding her head no.

Thousands of feet above them, a black top hat with a silver brim was drifting down from the folds of space on the warm tropical currents. The warmth of these currents turned icy the moment the hat came in contact with them.

"It's not mine. You should keep it, Kicker. It looks nice on you." Erin blushed. Kicker gulped, blushing as well.

"Y-Yah really think so...?" Erin nodded her head in a laughing yes.

The top at floated down across the wind, landing a few feet away from the talking children. Kicker blinked, being the first to notice it.

"Hey, how'd that get there?" Kicker blinked, pointing to the top hat. Erin looked at it and froze.

A shadow suddenly grew out of the top hat, pulling upwards to revile an emotionless man in a pressed black business suite carrying a silver briefcase. The case snapped open, folding out to revile a Tommy-gun.

"Get down!"

Kicker had no choice, for at the exact moment the gun opened fire, Erin had pushed him down. She rolled away from Kicker, landing in a crouched position several feet away from him. With an almost suicidal grace, she charged their attacker. Without even moving, it grabbed her by the foot and discarded her a few feet down the road. It turned on Kicker, its gun trained on his head. Kicker was obviously his target. The gun opened fire.

"Kicker!!"

* * *

At that exact same moment, thousands of top hats were landing on the newly repaired bridge to Ocean City and resulting in the birth of thousands of emotionless briefcase machine gun carrying men. Demolisher was at a loss, as was the rest of the base. Should they open fire or run the risk of waiting to see if they were friendly?

"What in Primus' name is going on?!" Jet Fire cursed.

To add chaos to an already chaotic matter an explosion in the sky foretold of thousands of small winged top hat and black suite wearing men descending from the heavens. As they passed the base and yelled out their destructive cries, the carnage began. The suitcase machineguns opened fire.

"Demolisher!" Ironhide gasped. Before the Decepticon could be damaged, the younger Autobot had kicked him over the edge of the bridge. Seeing as he was now in the line of fire, the youth back flipped with a surprising grace over the opposite edge of the bridge. The bullets from the guns were like miniature missiles, blasting holes in the door with ease.

"Jet Fire, watch out!"

The warning came too late. One of the fliers had decided to kamikaze attack the flying warrior. Seeing as he had no where to run, he did the only thing he could – cover his head with his arms and pray the blast wasn't lethal.

* * *

"Kicker!"

Kicker was frozen to his spot with his head being blocked by his hands and arms. He heard the bullets whizzing around him and pictured what he'd look like as a human block of Swiss cheese. The gun fire ended as abruptly as it had begun, making Kicker blink. When he dared to open his eyes again, there was a gaping black hole that looked almost like a two ringed target with the center ring being the largest and the outer ring appearing only like a thread in comparison in the middle of the assassin's chest. It gasped for air, moving in random motions as it was slowly killed. The target suddenly expanded, ending its meaningless struggles for life. The target vanished, reviling Erin to be its source.

"...E-Erin...? What...?!" Kicker paused mid sentence. He was surrounded in a dome of energy that was the same color as his now glowing ash-grey bracelet. That was what had protected him from the gun shots. "Did...Did you do this...?"

"...Yes..." Erin sighed, lowering her head in shame. "...I'm...not..." An explosion from behind them stopped their chatter.

Both children held wide eyes of horror when their gaze turned upon a burning ocean.

"Oh no! Ocean City is under attack!" Kicker gasped. He grabbed Erin by the wrist and began dragging her towards the burning city. "You can explain why you're able to blow creatures up later; right now our friends are in danger!"

Erin reluctantly followed him for a few moments, her mind lost in thought. Her eyes hardened into a determined glare. With one fluid motion, her wrist was free of Kicker's grasp and she was racing ahead of him.

"I'll go on ahead to clear a path! Take the back route and suite up! We'll meet at the medical center when this is all over!" she shouted, not once looking back at him. Kicker stared after her, at the small tear that flew past her streaming black and white hair, and understood for the first time why she was so afraid that the attack on Plan City was her fault.

* * *

Jet Fire was speechless. Instead of being burnt to a roasted crisp, only the room he had occupied moments ago was demolished. Looking down at the crystal bracelet, he understood why he hadn't been harmed. Whoever had left this for him had wanted to protect him. That thought rose curious questions about his mysterious new patron. They'd have to wait.

"Alright, it's obvious they're not friendly. Time to take 'em down!" Jet Fire roared. His engines and blasters set the sky aflame with the demolition of the strange attackers.

Ground enemies were a different story. Red Alert was lucky to have survived as long as he had, but he knew his time was running thin. He was almost out of energy and the enemy seemed endless. For ever one he destroyed, three more seemed to take the fallen monster's place. One had snuck behind him and at the last second, he had whirled around to face it. Too late; he raised his arms to shield his face and was greeted with the sounds of laser fire. The creature roared in pain as it was evaporated into dust.

"Red, you alright?" Kicker demanded.

"Kicker! Where's Erin?" Red Alert demanded. Kicker pointed his hand out towards what seemed almost like a nuclear explosion near the bridge.

"Lending a hand,"

* * *

Surrounded with no way out. Erin had to fight back a snicker at the familiarity of the setting. With her open fan she waved away the attacking forces by summoning a white gate and black gate for each monster that raised a gun to her. The black gates closest to her sent out a blast of black energy that disintegrated the monster where as the white gates neutralized the blast before anymore structural damage to the bridge could occur. The familiar roar of a space shuttle's engine brought her view to the sky. One of the remaining thousands thought they could get her while she was distracted. He was sorely mistaken. Erin raised her hand to the sky, forming another white discus. She closed her eyes and let it all melt away.

"Jet Fire, normal weapons won't work against Invaders. Please land and let me help clear the land and sky of this filth."

Jet Fire transformed mid flight, partially out of shock and partially because his forward cannons needed a rest. He looked down towards Erin and blinked, not noticing the glowing crystal on his wrist.

"Erin?"

"It's a long story, Jet Fire, sir, but I promise I'll explain everything." Erin whispered. Jet Fire stared at the glowing white discus Erin was holding above her head for a few more moments, nonchalantly blowing a few more of the Invaders, or so she had called them, out of the sky. She looked at him with eyes that seemed to be pleading. "Please..."

Jet Fire landed for a split second, collected the girl, and was airborne again just in time to avoid being shot down. Erin was suspended in his grip so that she could see both earth and sky. Her hands weaved too and fro like an artist at their easel, and wherever her hands pointed, black gates opened. Wherever the black gates appeared, white ones also accompanied them, overlapping each other and forming Ying-Yang symbols in the air. The Invaders' numbers were more than halved within seconds.

Somewhere from the top pillars of the still burning Ocean City, a scream of retreat was herald to the attacking units. Just in time, too, because once the last ground unit had been retrieved by the aerial units, Erin blacked out in Jet Fire's grip. He instantly landed in alarm.

"Erin!" Jet Fire jumped. His call was echoed by Red Alert, a soaking wet Ironhide, and a halfway limping Kicker.

"Is she alright?" Kicker demanded.

"Don't know. She blacked out once that retreat call was sounded." Jet Fire explained. He gently passed the unconscious girl to Red Alert who mealy hummed. Taking her in his arms, he walked her quickly to the only section of Ocean City that had received little to no damage – the medical wing.

"Jet Fire, report!" Optimus boomed from a good five feet away.

"Battle won and casualties are minimum, sir, thanks to Erin." Jet Fire answered. His answer left a perplexed expression on Optimus' face.

"Erin? How so?"

"I'm not a hundred percent sure, sir, but it was defiantly Erin that made the difference."

"Yeah. We got attacked by one of those things on our way here, and she used some kind of black gate to destroy it right through the gut." Kicker answered. His hands formed a circle over his own gut before expanding outwards to mimic the fate of the first attacker.

"You were attacked?" Optimus blinked. The situation was becoming more and more confusing as the moments progressed. "Where's Erin now?"

"She blacked out after the retreat call for those things was sounded, sir." Jet Fire paused for a moment before adding, "She called them Invaders, sir."

"Invaders?"

"Yes sir,"

Optimus sighed, shutting down his optics for a moment in an effort to straighten out his thoughts. When he reactivated them he ordered, "Take the wounded to the medical center at once. I want to be informed the moment Erin wakes up."

"Where're yah going, Prime?" Kicker demanded.

"To start cleaning up this mess and put out these fires." Kicker let out an embarrassed oh, blushing lightly out of embarrassment.

* * *

Red Alert released a long sigh as he was finally allowed a break. Every last wound that required his attention had been seen to, Erin's condition had been stabilized, and according to his scans the heroin of the hour would be awakening in a few moments. He'd put out the call to Prime, but had yet to hear a response. His thoughts were taken from Optimus and put back on the topic at hand – Erin had rolled over in her sleep and was now staring wide-eyed at him.

"Good morning," Red Alert smiled, bending down so as to more easily face her. "How do you feel?" Erin sat up, looking up at him with wide eyes. "Do we really have to go through this again?"

Erin giggled lightly at that, covering her mouth with the fan that had yet again materialized out of no where. Red Alert ignored the sudden appearance of her kimono fan and simply smiled.

"I suppose I owe you a dept of gratitude for taking out all of those monsters." Red smiled, standing up again. "Optimus said he'd be down here in a few moments, so if you want to rest or put back on your kimono I promise I won't watch. Your kimono's in the top...drawer?"

When Red Alert had turned back to face the now awake Erin, he found himself speaking to an empty room.


	4. Chapter 4: The Gate Keepers

_**Gateway Future**_

The Gate Keepers

"I suppose I owe you a dept of gratitude for taking out all of those monsters." Red smiled, standing up again. "Optimus said he'd be down here in a few moments, so if you want to rest or put back on your kimono I promise I won't watch. Your kimono's in the top...drawer?"

When Red Alert had turned back to face the now awake Erin, he found himself speaking to an empty room. His hand instantly ran across the control panel he was standing at.

"Demolisher! Keep an eye out for Erin!" Red Alert's voice echoed across the com link.

"Uh, why? Is she not allowed out?" Demolisher blinked, holding his right hand up to his ear. A small green gemmed bracelet sparkled inconspicuously against his green armor in the waning moonlight.

"Something like that, yes! Just don't let her out of the city!"

"Too late for that. She just left a few minutes ago." Demolisher stated as if the event in question could have mattered less to him.

"What?!"

* * *

"Red Alert to Optimus!" Red Alert's voice streaked across the com line like a frantic bullet looking for a target to land in. Optimus pressed a button on the meeting table before him, opening his end of the com to those who were gathered in the main meeting hall; namely Jet Fire, Ironhide, and Kicker.

"What is it, Red Alert?" Optimus questioned.

"Erin's left the base and I don't know where she's going! Demolisher reports her leaving just a few moments ago. If we hurry, we can catch her before she gets too far outside tracking range!"

"Wasn't she asleep?" Ironhide blinked.

"Was being the operative phrase. I had my back to her for a moment and when I turned around I was talking to an empty room." Red sighed. Kicker was long gone before Prime could even begin formulating a plan to find the ware-word heroin of the hour.

* * *

The stranger in his strange ship was back in the docking port. His very presence spelled out his annoyance to Unicron and his henchmen.

"You never informed me that a Gate Keeper was stationed at Ocean City." the man growled, "This lack of information will cost our alliance dearly."

"I was unaware that Gate Keepers even had such enormous power, and the fact that one happened to be a resident of Ocean City was news my last inelegance reports neglected to mention." Unicron's black voice stated in a surprisingly calm tone.

"So you were unaware of the Gate Keeper before this alliance was made?"

"That is correct, Commander."

"If this is the truth, our alliance is merely strengthened by our defeat, not wounded."

"It is the truth,"

"Then conceder our resolve to complete the terms of our deal doubled," the Commander glared. Unicon could hardly suppress a smirk.

* * *

She had changed back into her kimono the moment Red Alert had turned his back to her and had bolted past him with a speed only her powerful Gates of Ying could have granted her. Erin knew she was alone now – she had no home, her friends only feared her and might even want to experiment on her, and the Invaders were beginning to reappear supposedly all over the world. From the multitude that had attacked Ocean City she could guess with little error that a whole city, possibly a handful of random country towns, had been transformed into Invader training camps recently. She'd have to find those towns and set things right.

Her eyes narrowed right as a purple gate appeared beneath her feet. Her white gate smothered it, launching her high into the air and out of harm's way. Erin twirled in the air with a gymnastic grace, landing on another white gate that brought her coasting gently to the ground. The patch of concrete she had occupied no more than a few moments ago was now nothing more than a smoking crater in the earth. A hand suddenly reached out behind her, grabbing her mouth and stopping her from screaming. With a mercenary's precision, her attacker bound her hands against her back and pulled them tight so that even the smallest movement would result in the greatest burnings of pain.

"Erin Topaz... It's about time I caught you." the attacker whispered. His voice was soft but cold like ice, and his black gloved hands matched his black suite and business hat with odd precision. Though he looked like an Invader, Erin knew that this man was nothing more than a human and like her, he controlled a powerful Gate. "You are under arrest for refusing to join the Gate Keepers and being an Invader flight risk. You are hereby sentenced to death."

"Hands off!" The man had just enough time to move his hands away from Erin before being punched back into the crater his Gate had created moments earlier. On his way down, he summoned another gate to counter the attack. Erin's rescuer put his arms up in a defensive move, queuing the silver-grey gem bracelet under his suite that formed the protective barrier that had saved his life from becoming Swiss cheese to make an encore performance. The Gate's power was reflected around him in the form of red hot fire and boiling gusts of wind. Erin's attacker stared at him blankly from behind his shades for a few short moments before he managed to regain his composure and get back to his feet.

"You don't know what you're getting into, boy." the attacker growled.

"Kicker, get out of here! He'll kill you without even blinking!" Erin snapped. Kicker lowered his arms, smirking at the attacker.

"Oh, I know what I'm getting into. You were about to kill my friend, and that's something I can't allow." Kicker smirked, a daredevil look in his eyes.

"You think you can handle a Shinobi Gate Keeper?! Even with that Invader-proof shield, you can't win! It's not meant to take the power of the Gate of Inferno!" the attacker shouted. Kicker had just enough time to raise his arms to a defensive move again before another fireball exploded out at him. This time the shield failed and he was sent flying back past the collapsed Erin. Her eyes went wide when she heard him bounce three or four times before rolling over and barfing out what sounded like blood. Erin's eyes became shadowed glistening marks on her face when she heard him pass out from pain.

The Shinobi Gate Keeper let out a maniac's laugh. He shouted at Kicker with insults that Erin was glad the boy was unconscious for. She slowly got to her feet, bringing the assassin's attention back to her. The black Gate and white Gate formed before her open palms as she crossed her arms, making the Shinobi stifle his laughter.

"He was simply...trying to protect me..." Erin's tearful glare appeared, echoing out the gates in the center of her eyes. The Shinobi moved back a step.

"The Gate of Ying-Yang... The perfect balance of creation and destruction..."

"You didn't have to try and kill him! You didn't have to hurt him!!" Erin screamed.

She brought both Gates before her, overlapping them in a Ying-Yang shape. The assassin was sent flying. However, Erin wasn't done. She lifted the white gate skyward, summoning one behind the assassin. A giant hand of fire snapped out of the gate, grabbing the assassin its blistering grip. The assassin screamed bloody murdered. Erin released a sigh of self anger and the hand dropped the now smoldering assassin. Water suddenly flooded out of the gate, dousing his wounds. A third white Gate appeared over him, healing the major burns all over his body. However, by the time he was being healed, the assassin was so far unconscious he didn't even register his own name.

Erin closed her eyes, canceling the black Gate and opening a person sized white Gate above her head. Before she completely lost consciousness again, she whispered out a single name. "Red Alert..."

* * *

He counted himself lucky that he wasn't carrying anything when the soft pain-filled voice of Erin echoed through his mind. Looking down at the lightly glowing light blue bracelet of stone he had returned to his wrist, he somehow knew where the child was and that Kicker was in mortal danger.

Demolisher was nearly sent sprawling back into the ocean when a silver blur blasted past his legs. By time he managed to get a good look at it, the blur had passed far over the horizon.

"Was that Red Alert...?" Jet Fire whispered, looking down over the balcony. He looked down at his own fire red bracelet, noticed its soft glow, and instantly knew what was going on. Like a burning red rocket, Jet Fire was blasting off through the air at top speed.

* * *

"Erin!" Kicker jumped. A finger on his rib cadge forced him to fall back down onto the table he had been sleeping on. Looking up, he saw that it was Ironhide that had forced him to lie back down. "Ironhide, where's Erin? She's not...?"

"Nah, she's fine; been up for hours. But that assassin got away before Red Alert and Jet Fire could get to your location." Ironhide paused for a moment so that he could look towards the door before adding at a whisper, "You're lucky they got there in time, Kicker. You were almost DOA."

"...That guy...was not human..." Kicker whispered.

"He was the same kind of creature as Erin, and she's human." Ironhide countered.

"What?!" Kicker again tried to get out of bed, only to have Ironhide push him back down again. "I've got to see Erin! I've got to know what's going on!"

"You will only when your strength's been recovered, understand Kicker?" Optimus' voice cut through Kicker like a hot knife through butter. Like a spooled child, he fell limp against the table and pouted.

"All right, Optimus..." Though he wished he could have stayed awake, Kicker was soon sleeping away the remainder of the day.

* * *

This time Red Alert had locked the entrance so that it was one way – going in – and had asked Jet Fire to keep an eye on the surveillance cameras just in case there was going to be an encore performance. Erin slowly rolled over in her sleep, her eyes fluttering open to find Red Alert's annoyed foot near her face.

"I do hope you're not planning on sneaking out when I turn my back again, Erin." Red Alert growled. Erin slowly sat up, looking at him with wide eyes. "And the wide eyed puppy-dog plea for a break won't work either. I'd like to know exactly what this is," he tossed the bracelet down to her level, "And how it and the man that nearly killed Kicker are connected to you."

Erin diverted her gaze from his piercing stair, her eyes wide in a combination of fear and worry. Would they hate her? Would they all call her a freak when the found out who she really was? Would they even let her live once they knew the truth? Memories from the past from all the people that had known who she was and her arguments with the people who had sent the Shinobi after her flashed across her mind's eyes in a tornado whiplash that made her shut her eyes and shake her head in an effort to dispel the painful memories. When she opened her eyes again, she found Red Alert's finger resting gently against her shoulder and a light smile on his lips.

"I won't hurt you, Erin, you should know that by now. I just want to know what's going on with that bracelet and the assassin." Red Alert smiled. Erin stared at him for a few more moments, small droplets coming to her eyes. She jumped off the table and pushed herself into his hand in a futile effort to hug the giant. Deep in her heart, she knew, she believed she could trust both Red Alert and the others with all her dark secrets. Well perhaps not all, but simply the ones that threatened to destroy her at the present moment.

* * *

Erin sat like a queen in a dull metallic throne facing her subjects. Prime was seated at the opposite end of the table, with Jet Fire to his left, Red Alert to his right, and Kicker and Ironhide sitting on Jet Fire's side of the table. It was only those four that confronted her now – the others would know from Prime in a secondary announcement if what she disclosed to them merited such a herald. She closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again.

"The beings that attacked Ocean City two days ago are known as Invaders. They are the most pressing threat to humanity due to the fact that they are immune all modern technology and if a human's heart is black with corruption, greed, or tainted desire, that human can be turned into an Invader." Erin began.

"Yah mean they could turn anybody into an alien?" Kicker jumped.

"If that person is not a Gate Keeper or if that person is not being protected by an Anti-Invader device such as that bracelet you've got on your wrists, then yes, your best friend could become an Invader with only one goal in mind – your blood spattered all over their hands." Optimus cleared his throat in an effort to take the topic to a better, less shocking development.

"Which brings us to the questions of what is a Gate Keeper and what are these bracelets?" Erin took a deep breath before explaining.

"Those bracelets are condensed Gate energy. By wearing those, Invader attacks, which are powerless against Gates to begin with, are rendered null and void. However, just because you're wearing one doesn't mean you'll be able to fight back. It's a one way system centered on defense." Erin paused here, letting this information sink in, before turning her eyes to the ground and whispering, "...And I'm a Gate Keeper, as was the man that attacked me..."

"So Gate Keepers are humans, correct?" Red Alert smiled while trying to keep his face from frowning.

"Yes; it was discovered when the Invaders were first attempting to take over the earth nearly three decades ago that certain young people around my age, about 12 to 18 year olds, were showing unique psychic powers that allowed them to open small holes or Gates to other dimensions. By barrowing the power of these separate dimensions, the first of the multiple Invader waves were destroyed by the very first Gate Keepers, or children who could control the Gates, with little to no civilian casualties." She paused again as if to consider something before continuing on.

"Every Gate Keeper controls a different Gate. The Shinobi Gate Keeper controlled the Gate of Inferno, where as I control a Gate known simply as the Gate of Ying-Yang."

"Ying-Yang?" Jet Fire blinked in confusion.

"Yes." The two Gates suddenly opened on either side of her, startling the group. "The white Gate is the Gate of Creation or more commonly known as the Gate of Ying. The black Gate is the Gate of Destruction, also known as the Gate of Yang. The two Gates keep each other in balance and unlike other stronger Gates such as the Gate of Void and Gate of Ice they pose no health risk when used." The two Gates closed as suddenly as they had opened.

"I suppose this brings us to your attacker then." Optimus sighed.

"Yeah. If you're both Gate Keepers, then why'd he attack you?" Ironhide demanded. Erin looked at him, her eyes echoing out her sadness.

"The group that runs the Gate Keepers has come under...new management..."

"New management?" Jet Fire blinked.

"Yes...Lethal new management..."


	5. Chapter 5: The Shinobi Gate Keepers’ Cor...

_**Gateway Future**_

The Shinobi Gate Keepers' Corp

The Gate Keeper of Inferno leaned against the stone wall with his arms crossed and his thoughts as distant as the stars that glittered in the evening sky. The sounds of foot steps behind him startled him, forcing him to stand up straight and stair down the hall at the approaching Shinobi. He was hidden in shadows, giving only a ruff outline of his looks in the moonlight. A large straw hat that was as wide as his body was strapped tightly against his head with a strong leather strap. His outfit was a short shirt over a longer halfway opened vest with sleeves and leggings that covered his hands and feet respectively. White socks were split in half by the strap of his traditional sandals. On the belt that held the frayed pants tight against his waist and the sash that went diagonal across his chest were numerous pouches, each one containing an item more lethal than the last. Long raven hair streamed out behind him in the moonlight, giving him the final dark edge.

"It seems you failed on your first attempt, Wallace." the Shinobi snickered. The Gate Keeper pointed his gate at the new arrival, glaring at him from under his top hat. Thanks to the sparks coming from his gate, it could be seen that the new Shinobi had crimson red eyes that sparkled with blood.

"How many times have I told you to call me Blaze, Stephan? My birth name sucks too much to be used in public or private." Blaze growled.

"And how many times have I told you to call me Swords? You're not the only one with a crappy birth name." Swords growled. Blaze lowered his gate, snickering slightly to himself and returning to his relaxed stargazing position. Swords took the wall directly across from him, putting one foot up on the balcony so as to lean closer to the glittering gems of the midnight sky. "How'd you loose?"

"You mean the Commanders never told you?" Blaze blinked. Swords looked at him with a puzzled glance.

"All they told the remaining Shinobis that haven't deserted the earth was that you lost miserably and to leave you alone for a while so you could cool off." Swords answered.

"...Erin Topaz... is the Gate Keeper of Ying and Yang... Both her defensive strategy and offensive strategy are top notch, that and she doesn't have to worry about overusing her Gates since they keep each other in perfect balance. To add to the problem, a kid and a couple of Autobots have sided with her. I don't know if they know the truth about how she's betrayed the earth, but if they do, that makes them our enemies as well." Blaze sighed.

"Whoa, now that's something that wasn't covered in the briefing. Are you alright? She must have given you a serious whopping."

"Only for the first couple of minutes, but then she seemed to get angry at herself and let me go." Blaze looked down at his gloved hand and muttered, "I think she even used the Ying Gate to heal the wounds she put on me."

"Healing her opponent? I heard that the last Shinobi that was sent after her was killed without mercy or honor..." Swords whispered, looking back out at the stars. "...Do you think the Renegade is telling the truth about the Commanders...?"

"No way! The Commanders took us in when the Invaders left us with no place to call home! They're like our family! They'd never lie to us, especially about the Invaders!" Blaze jumped. Swords put his hands up in defense.

"Right, right, I'm just thinking aloud here." Swords stated calmly. "Hey, I've got an idea. Not even Transformers can stand up to a Gate, right? So, let's both go kill that Renegade right now! Anybody that stands in our way, well..." A thousand handles for a thousand or more swords and daggers appeared in the center of a blood red gate. "We'll just carve them to size."

Blaze smirked under the shade of his hat.

* * *

Early morning was left uneventful, thankfully. Kicker and Ironhide were busy throughout the morning welding and clearing debris from the main entrance. Demolisher overlooked the reconstruction of the bridge, again, while Red Alert helped with the power generators. Jet Fire took charge of replacing the shattered water-proof dome with Erin's help.

"...Man...They really pulled a number up here." Jet Fire sighed, welding away another broken peace of metal railing. Erin was in her street cloths, sitting delicately on Jet Fire's shoulder.

"I have an idea..." Erin whispered. Jet Fire stopped welding for a few moments and turned to look at her. She raised her hand to the broken railing. "Which way is it supposed to go?" Jet Fire showed her a 3-D model of how the dome had looked.

"Like this," he pointed, highlighting the bar in question. Erin pointed both hands at the bar, summoning a black and white overlapping Gate. Jet Fire jumped slightly, pulling back and allowing the Gate the room it needed to begin spiraling up from the broken bar. Where once was a mangled peace of metal there now stood a brand new perfectly placed support pillar for the new glass dome.

"Is that right?" Erin questioned innocently. Jet Fire looked at her out of the corner of his optic, a mixed expression on his face, and couldn't help but laugh.

"I guess having that Gate comes in handy, huh?" Jet Fire laughed. Erin blushed and diverted her gaze. She tried desperately to hide the blush under her fan when Jet Fire laughed at her shyness. "Hey, it's just a complement! Yah don't have to blush at every good word that's said to yah, yah know?"

Erin pulled herself tighter against Jet Fire's shoulder in an effort to shrink from his view. Jet Fire's answer was to carefully scoop her off his shoulder and place her gently on the human scaffold that had been brought up in case he needed both his hands and shoulders free for a while. He smiled at her, where as she blushed.

"I guess criticism from boys isn't your forte?"

"...No...not really..." Erin blushed. Her stomach gurgled a few seconds later.

"Let me guess; you skipped breakfast in order to help out here?" Jet Fire laughed as the crimson in her cheeks told him all. "Alright, you, go get something to eat. Prime'd have me demoted in a nano if you fainted from hunger on my watch." Erin blushed again before directing the scaffold to float down to ground level. Jet Fire shook his head and laughed, "Human kids. Some days you understand 'em, others you're more confused than a nurse bot."

* * *

Despite the debris in her path, Erin still made it in record time to the lunch room. She had a scrambled egg breakfast burrito and a tall glass of chocolate milk. Once both of those had been downed, she walked calmly with a smile on her face back to the scaffold that would take her to Jet Fire's location.

Her instincts jumped, forcing her to jump as well. Blood red dagger after blood red dagger found homes inches from her twirling heels as she jumped back into a wall. Without having to blink, she knew who her attacker was. He reviled himself to have a large straw hat that was as wide as his body was strapped tightly against his head with a strong leather strap. His outfit was a short dark blue shirt over a longer halfway opened vest with tan black sleeves and leggings that covered his hands and feet respectively. White socks were split in half by the strap of his traditional sandals. On the belt that held the frayed pants tight against his waist and the sash that went diagonal across his chest were numerous pouches, each one containing an item more lethal than the last. Long raven hair streamed out behind him in the wind, accenting his crimson eyes and giving him the final dark edge.

"You're as strong as Blaze calmed you'd be." the mystery warrior smirked dangerously.

"Another Shinobi I assume?" Erin growled.

"Yes. My name is Swords, and I have come to fulfill your punishment, Renegade." Erin bit her lip and growled. There were too many innocent Autobots around to have a fair fight, and knowing the way the Shinobi under the Gate Keepers' Management worked, they wouldn't care how many they killed. This left her with only once choice. She moved down into a battle stance, making the Shinobi smirk again.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. Look up," Erin looked up just in time to see Blaze making his landing behind Jet Fire.

"Jet Fire!!"

By time the larger robot had turned around, Blaze had left him severely damaged in the back. Erin didn't even blink. She moved like lightning across the ground, catching the falling giant on a white Gate the moment she could. He coasted gently to the ground and landed like a feather on his back. Lifting his hand to his head, he moaned in dizzying pain.

"Jet Fire, are you alright?" Erin demanded, stopping only a few feet away from him.

"What hit me...?" Jet Fire questioned, sitting up. Blaze landed with a burst of flame down before the fallen robot. He held his hand to him, opening a Gate three times the size of Jet Fire's torso. Both Jet Fire and Erin stiffened.

"You can't protect your ally, Erin Topaz. Surrender to your fate of death now, or I'll melt him into scrap iron."

"Fate of death!? You're joking!" Jet Fire jumped. He grabbed Erin in his hand and rocketed away, leaving room for the attack to simply scorch the earth beneath his feet. "They're here to kill you!? Why the hell didn't you tell us that was their plan in the briefing room?!!?"

"...I didn't want you to get involved any more than you already were..." Erin whispered. Before Jet Fire could reprimand her further, Optimus' was calling over the com line.

"Jet Fire, what's going on?"

"Erin's got assassins after her, sir, and they plan on killing her here and now." Jet Fire answered between gritted teeth.

"How many?" Prime demanded. Jet Fire was forced to dodge a flying barrage of daggers and fireballs in an aerial ballet that meant the difference between life and death for both him and his unwilling passenger. His smoldering back wasn't helping any either.

"Just two, sir; one guy that can melt yah down without even blinking and another guy that looks like he's taken sword lessons from Starscream." Jet Fire answered. An alarm began to ring around base moments later.

"You again?!" Kicker jumped. Blaze wasn't fast enough to dodge Kicker's aerial attack from Ironhide's shoulder. The two boys began to roll across the ground locked in a one on one battle. Blaze's hat was sent flying in the wind for a few moments before Swords could reclaim it for his fighting friend.

"So who's that, Blaze? A friend you forgot to mention about earlier?" Swords demanded. A blood red gate opened before him, allowing him to take the handle of a large crimson broadsword. He withdrew said sword from the portal with fluidity that spoke volumes of his dangerous skill.

"Something like that, yeah," Blaze growled. He kicked his way free of Kicker, allowing Swords to move in for the kill. Ironhide's fist knocked the human back into a pile of rubble before any harm could befall his friend.

"Hey, what's the big idea here? His back was turned!" Ironhide growled.

"What would Invader-lovers like yourselves know about fair fighting?" Blaze demanded. Kicker had just enough time to raise another protective barrier for Ironhide before the larger was melted into scrap by Blaze's gate.

"Invader-lovers?! Who the hell do you think trashed Ocean City??!! It's obvious it wasn't the Decepticons!!" Kicker snapped back. Blaze paused for a second, looking around at the burn marks that had escaped scorching. They did seem familiar...

"Are you saying Invaders attacked here recently?" Blaze demanded.

"Yeah; right before our last little tussle. We were all nearly totaled, and we would have been dead a hundred times over if it weren't for Erin. Everybody that's standing right now owes their life to Erin. She risked her own hide to save ours, and nearly died doing so." Kicker explained. For once in his life, had the boy been anymore serious, he would have ceased to be a boy and been a wise old sage. Blaze locked his eyes in Kicker's and the world seemed to pause. Only the movement of the Shinobi's tussle-done auburn hair in the rustle of the wind broke the silence between the two combatants.

Swords released a growl of pain as he finally managed to sit up in the broken concrete he had been tossed into. As he looked up towards the sky, he felt his heart skip a beat. He knew the black pattern that was beginning to weave its way through the tapestry of white clouds like the back of his hand, and he knew what it herald.

"Invaders!!"

The whole base looked up towards the sky at the gathering mass of black, some with optics full of fear, others with optics full of rage, and still others with optics of calm acceptance of the coming struggle. Optimus was one such being that looked on with calm optics at the coming sea. He turned to face Swords, the closest to him, and stated harshly,

"The Invaders are our enemies as well. We have no intention of fighting both Gate Keepers and Decepticons along with this new foe, however, I along with what appears like half of this base alone will not sit idly by while you attempt to kill our friend simply because she disagrees with your values of how to deal with Invaders." Once his speech to Swords was finished, he swiped his hand across the air and shouted, "All units, battle stations! Prepare for attack!"

The whole base was alive with action in a matter of seconds. Forward cannons, at least those of them that were still functional, began to fire rapidly at the approaching storm. Some Invaders fell, while others began to multiply like rabbits. The two boys that had attacked them became forgotten shadows in the background. Swords and Blaze exchanged a look of confusion and frustration.

"I don't get it. We were never told about any kind of Invader attack on the Autobot bases..." Blaze whispered.

"...Maybe she really isn't a Renegade...?" Swords pondered aloud.

"Then why would she refuse to join the Gate Keepers?" Blaze blinked.

"Because she realized the Gate Keepers' new bosses were just using you for their own personal gain." Demolisher stated. The two boys looked up at the tall Decepticon traitor, looking deep into his sideways scowl, and felt like lost lambs. "Erin never really said it out loud, but that's the impression I got whenever she would sit alone at night gazing at the stars. It's the same look I get when I'm lost in thought about weather to join the Decepticons again..." His fingers extended into machine guns and he pointed them with an emotionless glare at the approaching Invaders. Without another word, he opened fire.

"What are you doing?! Your weapon won't even make a scratch against Invaders!" Blaze jumped.

"I don't care." Demolisher growled. "This city, this world, is my home now and I'll be damned and dead before I give it up without a fight."

Blaze and Swords exchanged yet another look of confusion and bewilderment. None of the reports they had seen gave any hint to this kind of attitude from a Transformer. In fact, the Transformers and Erin seemed to be on the same page in the Gate Keeper handbook; cold, ruthless, and as bad as Invaders. Maybe they were being lied to? Maybe the Commanders were just greedy hogs that wanted nothing more than complete control over the world?

"Demolisher!!" Erin's gasp brought the two boys to the present. Demolisher was down on the ground covered by thousands of Invaders. His arms were flaying around in a futile effort to get the Invaders off him, but he was loosing horribly. The two boys exchanged a final look before nodding in secret agreement.

"Don't move!" Blaze barked. Demolisher instantly froze. A dark purple gate suddenly surrounded him, releasing thousands of fireballs that burnt away the layered Invaders as if they were nothing more than flies. Swords accompanied Blaze by creating a wall of knives around the now grounded and oil-leaking Jet Fire. As the Invaders came crashing down around the larger warrior, they were impaled with an almost heartless cold that made Jet Fire shiver.

"That bracelet you've got on your wrist. Activate it and stay still." Jet Fire fiddled with the bracelet for a few moments and kicked Demolisher in the side to get him to do the same. With an embarrassed look the Decepticon began to play with his jewelry.

"What are you gonna do?" Jet Fire growled partly out of frustration at the bracelet that refused to shield him and the boys that had gone from enemy to protectors in one fast swoop. Blaze tipped his newly returned hat to him, hiding his daredevil smirk from the now incased warrior.

"Swords and I are Gate Keepers, aren't we? What else do you think we're going to do besides defend the planet we love so much?"


	6. Chapter 6: Exiles' Guild

_**Gateway Future**_

Exiles' Guild

It was the most exciting battle either boy had been in. At every turn there was another Invader attempting to destroy them, and with every Invader that tried to attack them and the wounded, another Autobot that was without injury or shield or the pathetically prideful Demolisher that had given up on activating his own Gate Shield was directly behind them blasting the Invader away for a moment so the boys could destroy it. There wasn't enough time for the Invaders to call a retreat, for by time they had realized that there were more than just the Gates of Ying and Yang at work, their numbers were down to four. Ironhide finished the pleasantries by stomping on all four in one giant thump.

"I'm glad that's over," Ironhide huffed.

"Yeah, no kidding. For a while I thought we were goners." Kicker echoed his companion's exhaustion. Blaze and Swords exchanged a look before staring almost blankly at the so called 'Renegade'. She seemed to have been so badly beaten that it was a miracle she was standing at all. Her arms had wide gashes oozing pussy red blood, her face was bound to have at least one new scar on her otherwise ivory cheek, and her feet had returned to being shoeless. She looked at the two boys, who instantly stiffened to battle positions.

"Aw man, do we have to go through this again?" Jet Fire moaned from his locked position in the rubble of the city's main tower, mock slapping himself up side the head in show of his frustration. Erin fought back a giggle, standing up from her perch leaning against what remained of a crumbled wall and walking stiffly before the two boys.

"I won't fight you if you want to take me to Gate Keeper HQ. This battle's over and I doubt the Invaders would try to attack again after the whooping they got this time." Erin bowed. Blaze and Swords exchanged a look of confusion again. They'd seen the way she fought – if her friends were in danger, she'd take half the hits so that they'd only receive the smallest fraction of a wound. She'd be the decoy so that everyone else could escape, and she'd stay behind if that's what it took to insure their safety. Her battle style was far from what the Commanders had told them of. Instead of being ruthless, she was compassionate. Instead of being heartless, she cared more for others than her own life.

Blaze was the first to remark by bowing his hat and sighing, "Forget it, Renegade. Your battle skills speak more for your attitude then your friend's loud mouth."

"Loud mouth?!" Kicker jumped. Swords nodded in agreement with his companion.

"Let's get out of here before HQ thinks we're in league with such a pathetic fighter."

"Right,"

Before the two could run off, they could have sworn Erin had shouted out her thanks.

* * *

Both Unicron and the Commander were glaring at each other in disgust.

"This plan is falling apart, Unicron." The Commander growled.

"I agree. Perhaps we're looking at this from the wrong perspective?" The Commander tipped his head to the side slightly in confusion.

"What do you mean?" he demanded.

"Perhaps instead of sending in simply Invader forces, we should send in the Decepticons and Terracons as well as some Invader foot solders? A battalion of each should easily crush their weakened defenses, Gate Keepers or not." Unicron explained.

"Perhaps... But I will not risk another ambush like that again. We'll deploy our strategy at an observatory post." The Commander stated.

"Agreed. Would the Black Star mining observatory in the Taro quadrant serve as a good test sight?" Unicron chuckled. He'd recently received reports that a large chunk of Energon had been deposited there for 'safe keeping'.

"Very well,"

* * *

The meeting hall was quieter than usual. Despite the fact the meeting was packed with both Shinobi and regular Gate Keeper fighters, had a pin been dropped it would have been louder then how some were breathing. Blaze had the strangest feeling that they were all staring at both him and Swords. A shadowed figure that was positioned almost like a god above the meeting hall walked forward, disrupting the silence with his booming voice and commanding demeanor. Even though his eyes could not be seen, it was obvious that he was glaring at the two boys before him.

"Wallace 'Blaze' Granger and Stephan 'Swords' Tyrone, your recent conduct with the Renegade has not gone unnoticed. Explain to the committee why you did not complete your mission when you had the chance."

"While we were in the process of collecting her to deliver her here to HQ, and Invader fleet attacked the base she was occupying at the time." Swords began. His words caused a ripple effect to pass through the observing crowd.

"It's true, sir! Invaders have begun attacking Auotbot bases without reason." Blaze added. This addition to Swords' statement caused another gurgle of worry to echo through the observers. A javelin was brought down on the podium before the shadowed godly figure, silencing the room with an echoing thump.

"Silence!" the figure boomed unnecessarily. "There have been no Invader sightings in over five years!"

"It's true, though, sir! The base Erin Topaz is currently occupying is in the process of repairing itself from Invader attack. We were there! We saw the carnage they unleashed upon the Autobots!" Blaze shouted, overlapping the commanding voice of the shadowed god. He turned his gaze upon the audience and continued, "If we Gate Keepers don't do something about this sudden surge in Invader population, the whole world could be pulled under Invader control without a single counterstrike being launched!"

"That is enough, Blaze!" a female voice slashed through the crowd. A second hidden figure appeared next to the first. This one was outlined in silver and had a purely feminine look to its curves and design. Once silence was restored, the voice continued, "We all know you have an active imagination and that coupled with your loss to Erin Topaz's rather weak Gate has probably caused you to become unbalanced slightly. I recommend you be taken off active duty for a few days so that you can straighten your mind out."

"The Renegade has no weak Gate! Erin Topaz is the keeper of the Gate of Ying-Yang!" Blaze shouted. Another murmur of shock echoed through the crowd.

"I can confirm Blaze's statement, Commanders, and I can also confirm that the majority of reports on her battle behavior have been overstretched. Today during a considerably minor battle she nearly lost her life due to the fact she was taking hit after hit for the Autobots. If it weren't for her, Commanders, I doubt there'd be an Auotbot left that could help us with this new threat the Decepticons and Terracons are posing." Swords echoed. Regaining silence in the hall was now imposable.

"Silence!" a hard male voice boomed much like the voice of a god throughout the congregation, forcing all those gathered to huddle back and be silent. A glowing figure with a golden Gate formed behind him much like a halo descended down before Swords and Blaze, causing the two to bow in respect.

"Hi-Commander," the two bowed in awe. The glowing figure's features could not be seen due to the fact that it too was wearing a flowing white and silver robe that covered all aspects of its body. The Hi-Commander looked out through the darkness of his hood at the two boys and seemed to glare at them.

"You two are hereby relieved of active duty, indefinably, for the crimes of spreading improvable rumors throughout the Gate Keepers and causing doubt in our decisions. Do I need to remind you further who it is that took all of you in from your tarnished homes and raised you as if you were my own sons and daughters?" the Hi-Commander boomed.

"...No sir..." Swords whispered.

"Good. This meeting is adjourned." No one in the room dared move till all three shadowed figures had left through the aft balcony.

* * *

Blaze's fist crashed upon the hard stone of the room he shared with Swords, creating a small crater in the wall. Swords' hat was covering his eyes, making it impossible to see if he was awake or asleep as he sat as still as death on his bed opposite Blaze.

"If you keep that up, you'll break your hand." Swords muttered almost lazily.

"How can you just sit there like that!? Our names have been disgraced and I'm starting to doubt my place here among the Gate Keepers... Punching a wall out is the least I can do to keep my mind calm enough to stop my Gate from destroying this very room." Blaze growled. Swords remained silent, listening to the echo of dust fall back from the hole Blaze's fist had made in the wall.

"I can sit here like this because I know the truth, as do you. The Commanders are nothing without us. The Renegade was right." Swords sighed, releasing an icy puff of air into the freezing room. He removed one of the satchels on his belt and played with it for a few moments.

"What's that?"

"Gun powder,"

"Gun powder!?"

"Yes... I think it's time for a new Gate Keepers Organization to come into play, and I know just who should lead it." Blaze looked at Swords as if he were insane before covering his eyes with his hat and sighing,

"So there's gonna be three Renegades instead of just one? Well, count me in. You know I just love explosive situations,"

"Don't remind me." Swords moaned in mach agony. "It's gonna be hard to get out of here."

"So? It's not like you hate a challenge." Blaze smirked. Swords shook his head in mach agony again. In one fluid motion, there was an explosion on the outer wall of their quarters. Alarms began to blare throughout the castle that served as Gate Keepers' HQ.

* * *

Erin watched with an ice cream cone in her mouth and a smile on her face as the main entrance was finally sealed with pressure and bullet proof glass. Now all that was left to be repaired of the demolished Ocean City was the decent mechanism, the upper levels from ground to floor level twenty, and the defense batteries. She pouted slightly at the fact the work wasn't even halfway done.

"What's with the sour face, Erin?" Kicker suddenly questioned. Erin removed the ice cream cone and sighed,

"The fact it seems like repairs will take forever..."

"Ah, it won't take that long. I mean, we've already got level five done and the new dome should be here in a couple of hours." Kicker countered. Erin pushed the cone back in her mouth and sighed again. Kicker took a seat next to her on the observation crane and watched as the new Plexiglas was pushed gently into place. Before the sheet could slip out, Erin had summoned five white Gates to melt the rivets in place. "Since when could you create that much heat with a Ying Gate?"

"Since I learned to make fire monsters," Erin giggled. Three or four fire lizards crawled back into the Ying Gates, making Kicker blink in confusion.

"Cool,"

"Or hot depending on your point of view." Optimus laughed from behind the children. They turned back to face him, blinking slightly.

"What's up, Prime?" Kicker questioned.

"Actually, I was hoping Erin could accompany Jet Fire, Demolisher, and myself to Mountain City. I'm hoping that we can Invader-proof the remainder of our functional cities." Optimus explained. Erin pushed herself up on the observation crane, tossed what was inedible of her now eaten cone back into a black Gate, and bowed,

"I'd be happy to help in any way possible." She climbed delicately into Prime's outstretched hand. The wind from the sudden change in altitude sent her hair flying back behind her, creating black and white patterns that bewitched Kicker's senses. It was only after she had vanished out of sight and Ironhide had called for his aid that Kicker managed to snap himself back to reality.

* * *

An old looking silver crane robot waved to the descending Autobots and Demolisher as they made their landing. He was more than old; his optics and looks told it all. This robot had seen the other side of life – he had died once. His right arm was nothing more than two giant pumps attached to a flexible fist, giving him an unnatural feel. Weather this bothered him or not, no one could really tell.

"Perfect timing, sir; we've just found something of interest." the elder robot explained.

"What is it, Smokescreen?" Optimus blinked, a questioning look in his optics. As Smokescreen ushered the group through the mountainous underground city, he explained the situation to them.

"We found two boys near the edge of Mountain City last night. They were in pretty bad shape, but so far they've made it through alright. According to Dr. Onishi, they should be back on their feet in a few hours."

"I thought Dr. Onishi had been evacuated due to the Decepticon/Terracon threat." Jet Fire blinked. A gentle old laugh echoed through the door to the next room,

"Are you joking, Vice-Commander? I may be an old human, but that doesn't mean I don't mind a little action now and then! Besides, Transformer biology and human biology aren't that much different. I can at least help out that way."

Erin blinked back the blinding light of the medical facility, shielding her eyes with the back of her hand. The room was twice as large as Ocean City's medical bay and contained what looked like twice the number of medical and repair robots than those found on the oceanic city. Dr. Onishi was an old man with flowing white hair and burning blue eyes. He had a slight hump to his back that accented his age and wisdom. The bright blue letters 'Dr. Onishi MD' echoed almost like a sun against his starch white uniform buttoned lab coat.

"Dr. Onishi, it's a pleasure to see you again." Optimus bowed. Dr. Onishi waved him off with a gentle teasing smile.

"Oh there's no need for formalities, Commander Prime. If you'll follow me, I'll take you to our guests." Dr. Onishi laughed, taking point. He didn't need to move far to find the first of the two boys forcing himself down the hall. Once he was in sight, he locked his eyes in a glare pointed at Erin.

"Damn you, Renegade... It took you long enough to get here..."


	7. Chapter 7: A Swordsman's Pride

_**Gateway Future**_

A Swordsman's Pride

The black sun glinted off his red and orange armor in odd distorted patterns. It flashed against the silver visor that blocked his baby blue optics from its damaging rays. He sat as still as death with his right hand resting limply over his left bent knee. His right leg was stretched full, extending to the edge of the cliff he was sitting on. Every now and then he would push the silvery stardust of the black-bathed planet he was stationed on by moving his foot from side to side in a gentle rocking motion. It was impossible to tell if it was night or day on the desert planet, and in some small way, he liked that small fact. It left his mind open to wanderings of all sorts; his memory circuits had a habit of replacing the Black Star planet's scenery with the midnight views of earth he had recorded during his most favorable mission.

A blue sedan tipped with edges of black and speckled with silver dust drove silently behind him. It stopped and transformed effortlessly into a teenage looking Autobot. He had a black visor for optics that looked almost like earthen sunglasses so he didn't mind the black rays of the plant's odd sun. His silver hands weaved through the air as if to add emphasis to something he was saying leaving bright silver patterns in the air. As if he could hear him, the red and orange armored robot rose to his feet and turned to face the newcomer. He waved his right black had through the air in a counter statement, leaving his silver one to hang limply against his side. The sedan seemed to moan at him. The red and orange robot let out a minor chuckle before transforming into a sports car. The sedan followed his lead. Within a few moments, the two were racing across the baron world towards a blue and red metallic oasis – the gem of the strange black sunned world, Black Star mining observatory.

* * *

Black wings shone like silver against the blazing blue sun of his master's heart. He strode forward past burst of white light past burst of blue light, past bursts of pain and bursts of endless void-induced bliss. He'd seen this chamber one too many times this past cycle alone to be distracted by such outbursts as those found within the core of his master. His larger black torso was outlined in delectate patterns with silver and gold paint. His feet were blacker than the rest of him from the stains of Energon he had been forced to trudge through. His grey fists were clenched tight against his side, ready to snap to a defensive position at any given moment. With indifferent silver optics, the robot stopped before the central core of Unicron and rendered honors by withdrawing his left wing which ignited into a glowing silver sword, holding it vertical to the floor, and with one fluid motion lowering the sword so that both it and his right arm were horizontal to the ground and bowing down on one knee while shouting,

"I serve only Unicron!"

Unicron could only chuckle at this constant devotion he had drilled into his favorite subordinate. Without words he ordered the militaristic black jet to stand and return his wing to its proper position.

"I have a mission that requires your unique talent, my loyal servant." Unicron began. The jet crossed its clinched right fist over its dark purple symbol-marked cockpit and bowed,

"I await your orders, Master Unicron." Unicron chuckled yet again.

"You know of the Black Star mining observatory in the Taro system?"

"Of coarse I do, sir. I was the one that managed to...persuade our last Autobot visitor to disclose its location." the jet answered promptly. Unicron chucked aloud this time.

"Ah yes, I had almost forgotten. My apologies, servant,"

"None needed, my league," the jet answered almost automatically. Unicron fought back another laugh at his handiwork.

"My most loyal and trustworthy servant, you are to take a battalion of Invaders and Terracons and invade Black Star mining observatory. Strip it dry of every last spark of Energon and return it to me."

"As you command, Lord Unicron." As the jet turned to take his leave, Unicron cried out,

"Should you fail me, slave, do not dare to return for if you do I shall take the Energon lost in this raid straight from your still functioning Spark!"

The jet shivered slightly. He knew his master was not one to jest on such punishments.

* * *

Blaze screamed, kicking back the cotton swab dripping with antiseptics. Had it not been for a counter Gate to his fiery Blaze Red Alert might have lost his one good intentioned hand. A slap across the raging Shinobi's cheek silenced him.

"Shut up, you silly toddler, and let Red Alert clean up that wound before it becomes any worse than it is." Erin snapped. Her hand was held loosely in the air from where she had slapped the now stunned Blaze. The boy blinked, raising his one gloved hand to his cheek in shock. Never before in all his life had any being, much less a girl his own age, dared to so much as even touch him, a noble honorary Shinobi Gate Keeper. Swords seemed to pick up on the younger Gate Keeper's mood and laughed lightly to himself.

"That was new. I don't think I've ever seen Blaze become that quite that fast. Normally Commander Irrian, the Keeper of the Gate of Life, has to come in and sedate him with her Gate."

Blaze remained silent throughout the remainder of his treatment. His only counter to being slapped was to slam his hat back down upon his head and turn his back to the girl. Swords could hardly fight back another fit of laughter at the attitude his counterpart was showing towards their rescuers.

"Your name is Swords, correct?" Erin questioned at a whisper. Swords closed his eyes and turned so that his chin was almost pointing at the ceiling.

"Sorry, you're going to have to speak up if you're going to earn my respect, Renegade." Swords laughed.

"She asked what your name was," Jet Fire growled.

"I won't answer to a giant fool, robot. I'll only answer to the questions asked of me by a fellow Gate Keeper."

"Then answer me now. Is your name Swords or not?" Erin snapped. Swords looked at her with a mischievous smirk in his eyes and laughed,

"Yep, my name is Swords, Keeper of the Gate of Blades. My counterpart there is Blaze, Keeper of the Gate of Inferno."

"How is it that you and Blaze were injured, Swords?" Optimus questioned. Swords ignored him with an air of annoyed superiority. However, before he could set off a retort Erin's fan had snapped shut with a clap of ice.

"You'll answer the questions asked to you by any Autobot or Demolisher without delay, you hear me?" Erin snapped. Swords looked at her with a whisper of a smirk. He straightened so that he was standing on his feet and looked up at Prime, smiling,

"Blaze and I were put on indefinite withdrawal from duty when we told the Commanders about what happened to your base yesterday. After a little digging, it came to our attention that perhaps the Renegade was right about the upper levels being corrupt and conceited. So, we escaped the confinement of our cells and made a run for it."

"We were luck to make it as far as we did before our fellow Shinobi overtook us." Blaze picked up, "We had to play dead for a good half an hour before these idiots,"

"You mean these Autobots who saved your lives," Erin interjected with a cold gale that made Blaze question if she was really the Keeper of the Gates Ying and Yang and not the Keeper of the Gate of Ice.

"...These Autobots managed to find us and keep us alive. I guess you could say we owe them our lives." Blaze concluded.

"Is there anything else you're not telling us?" Jet Fire questioned. He still had yet to trust these two emotional youths. After all, they had tried to kill Erin just yesterday.

"Only one thing; we're thinking of starting a Renegade Gate Keepers Corps, but we need the essentials. You know, food, supplies, and a strong-willed experienced leader with control over an unquestionably strong Gate." Swords smirked. Erin blushed bright red with shock and quickly turned her back to him.

"Y-You've got the wrong Gate Keeper, then..." Erin blushed shyly.

"Do we now?" Blaze teased.

"...Y-Yes...I've got no leadership skills whatsoever...." Erin explained between stutters. Now Jet Fire was truly floored. One second they want to kill her, the next they want to follow her to the ends of the earth. Fortunately for all parties involved a station wide solar alarm went off, disrupting the event mid process.

"Optimus, sir! Emergency transmission from Black Star! Terracons aided by unknown humanoid life-forms are attacking Black Star! Reinforcements requested!" The whole base was instantly alive with action. Optimus began roaring out orders in every direction.

"Jet Fire, take Erin and her new team to the warp room at once, and be sure they get suited up appropriately before launch! Prepare the Space Bridge for immediate launch to Black Star! Send word to Hot Shot and Sideswipe that reinforcements are on their way!"

"W-What?! My TEAM?!?!" Erin jumped. She had no time to argue as Jet Fire grabbed her in his hands and allowed Swords and Blaze to jump tight against his back. All she had time to say after that was, "B-But I can't lead!!"

"Yeah yah can, just not these two misfits that've tried to kill yah more than once in the past forty-eight hours." Jet Fire countered teasingly. Erin looked up at his smiling face and screamed at an almost glass-shattering pitch,

"Not funny, Jet Fire!!"

* * *

Jet Fire's red glare blasted out above the Black Star planet's surface. He tilted slightly to the side at some internal prompting so that his three passengers – one dressed in a white and black Autobot space suite, one dressed in a pure black Autobot space suite, and the final dressed in a blood red Auotbot space suite – could easily look out his main windows at the battle scared landscape below. He landed without word in front of what was left of a red and blue metallic oasis. Once his passengers had disembarked he transformed to robot mode. He signaled to the other three to activate their com systems. At first the crackle of static greeted his internal receiver but was quickly replaced by,

"Oh my lord... Jet Fire, how many were stationed here?" from Erin.

"Only two Autobots, and I'm praying right now that they're both alive. They're buddies of mine from our first earth mission." Jet Fire explained.

Swords withdrew a Transformer sized blade from his Gate and stated plainly, "Catch, exhaust for brains. You can use my sword in case you run into Invader trouble." He added as Jet Fire checked the sharpness of the blade, "It also cuts through Transformer alloy like a hot knife through butter, in case you run into Terracons."

Erin had begun to look for any signs of life with Blaze on her heels while Jet Fire was being coached on how not to kill himself with the barrowed weapon. Her ear-piercing scream made Jet Fire jump.

"I found somebody!!" Erin screamed. Blaze was sliding directly behind her as her white and black form slipped over a small – by human standards small, by Transformer standers nothing more than a bump in the dirt – mountain range. Jet Fire felt his spark skip a beat in shock.

"That's them!" he shouted. Erin's Ying Gate was lifting the two silver covered bodies out of the crater they had been pummeled into as carefully as if she were lifting eggs that were about to hatch out of a cold nest. The orange and red one's optics brightened for a moment before dimming again. "Hang on, buddy... Jet Fire to Mountain City; get ready for a couple of emergency medical cases!"

* * *

The memory played out before him like a nightmare. He remembered looking up into the night sky again and seeing him descend upon the once calm silver planet like the angle of death himself. He had tried to open a communication line with his old friend, but all hopes of communication were slashed through like wet paper when he saw his comrade sliced in half across the mid section by his black sword.

"...Starscream...don't... It's me, Hot Shot... Remember... And Sideswipe...." he whispered in his dreams. As the glowing silver wing sword descended on him, he bolted from his bed screaming, "Starscream, don't!!!"

A blast of warm but gentle energy sent him crashing gently against the bed he had bolted from. His baby blue optics darted around the room he was in like a scared rabbit being chased on the open parry. A human was standing on what looked like a wall. He had his arms crossed over his chest and his beady sunshade hidden eyes were all but glaring at him from underneath the eternal darkness his odd hat provided. His suite looked oddly familiar to him for some strange reason.

"You're awake. Good." the human huffed. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and turned his back to the awakened robot. Hot Shot tried to move and say something again, but the gentle burst of heat forced him to stay still and silent. "Don't even try to move. My boss is sleeping at your feet, and I'm not about to have her get squished by your carelessness."

Hot Shot sat up carefully this time and angled himself so that he was looking down at his feet. Curled up almost like a kitten was a young human girl dressed in what looked like a kimono. She would let out soft moans every now and then but the majority the snores she gave off proved she was deep in a peaceful dream.

"See what I mean? Sound asleep with no way to move her without being rude." Hot Shot turned to look at the human again who was now standing straight on the floor and demanded almost harshly,

"What happened to Sideswipe? Where am I? Who are you and who is this kid? What's going on around here?"

"One thing at a time, Hot Shot!" a familiar old voice laughed. Hot Shot turned to look at the entrance to the medical wing and instantly felt relieved.

"Optimus, sir..." Hot Shot whispered. Relieve filled his overloaded worry circuits. It didn't matter where he was now; he knew both he and Sideswipe were in good hands. Optimus walked over to him, took one look down at his feet and notably fought back a chuckle. He scooped the child off the table carefully, surprisingly not awakening her and deposited her on the bed opposite from Hot Shot. She sprawled out on this bed stretching her stiff limbs as if to try and awaken from her peaceful dream. Instead of opening her eyes she turned her back to the group and curled up in yet another sunlit dream. The human dressed in a black suite shrugged with his hands in the air in a 'go figure' gesture.

"Blaze, will you please let Red Alert know that Hot Shot is active and asking questions?" Optimus directed supposedly of the human now at his feet. He shrugged again, muttering some back talk before exiting the room supposedly to go deliver the message. Optimus sighed, "I just can't understand that human..."

Hot Shot slowly lowered himself back down onto the medical bed. He looked at Optimus with optics full of confusion, pain, disbelief. His duty was probably the only thing driving him on to stay awake. Without rendering a salute as protocol dictated he launched directly into his report of what had happened on Black Star mining observatory. It was somewhat surprising to him that Optimus kept up with his sliced report even as he was slipping under some kind of sedative. He hadn't noticed Red Alert slip in and activate a laser syringe. When he did, however, he let out a little chuckle to signal the end of his struggles against the medication and fell peacefully back into recharge mode.


	8. Chapter 8: The Dragon, Dragon

_**Gateway Future**_

The Dragon, Dragon

Swords sat completely still on the table overlooking the sleeping Sideswipe. The wound that had threatened his life was sealed by more than one layer of emergency bandages. Adding to his list of injures besides something called 'spark exposure' was that his left hand had nearly been ripped off, his own gun had been used against him, his legs seemed non-responsive as if the neural connectors had been fried, and his whole body had been exposed to over a thousand watts of various lethal radiation waves. In short; the boy should count himself lucky that Erin had found him first and was so well versed in the Ying Gate's powers. The soft hum of the child Transformer's optics slowly powering up after days of inactivity made Swords open his eyes slowly.

"Move and I won't be held liable for the consequences." Swords warned the robot. Sideswipe looked over at the Keeper of the Gate of Blades and blinked in confusion.

"W-What...happened...?"

"You were nearly killed in a sneak attack, Sideswipe. Stay still and don't move." Red Alert ordered. Sideswipe looked weakly over at the elder medic hidden halfway behind a control console and whispered,

"Where's...bro...?"

"His wounds are being treated to even as we speak." Red Alert answered promptly. He had a small laser syringe in his hand that was active. He simply touched it to Sideswipe's armor and the energy found within it was gone. "Just rest. That's all you need right now is rest." Sideswipe nodded lightly. His optics were black in a matter of seconds.

"Bro? You mean he and that other robot are related?" Blaze questioned stiffly from the door. Red Alert turned to face him with a light chuckle in the air.

"In an emotional way, yes, I suppose you could say they are related. I guess since you're here that Hot Shot's awake?"

"And asking questions. Prime wants you in his room now." Red Alert nodded thanks to the message and quickly left the room. Blaze joined Swords in overlooking the sleeping giant. "...So is it worth it...?"

"Well," Swords hummed, covering his eyes with the wide brim of his hat, "You did say you love explosive situations, and what's happening with that observatory couldn't be any hotter." Blaze rolled his eyes behind his shades in a joking manor.

"Yes, but wasn't it you that said we should play it safe for a while?" Swords looked down at him and smirked,

"Safe? What place on earth could be safer than in a battle outpost full of giant lethal robots?"

"I could think of a thousand places," was the counter remark. Swords gave no answer. Blaze released another laughing huff, pushing his hands deep into the black depths of his suite pockets. The both of them exchanged a look when their stomachs echoed off the same empty complaint.

"I'll go get some to-go lo-main..." Blaze volunteered. He waved one hand in the air nonchalantly to show he didn't care and turned to exit the room. He could have sworn he heard the unconscious Sideswipe chuckle at his stomach rumble.

* * *

It was a calm ocean day with the sea breeze light and the morning full of peaceful bliss. The doors to Ocean City slowly opened, admitting Hot Shot, Sideswipe, and Ironhide along with three humans – Kicker, Erin, and Blaze – out onto the bridge. Demolisher simply nodded to their arrival. With an emotionless gesture, he pointed over towards the far end of the land side of the bridge. Coming towards the rebuilt underwater city was a black unmarked car with two small Autobot-Earth alliance flags mounted on its hood.

The car came to a complete stop on the outskirts of the city gates. The passenger side back door opened slowly, almost as if the person inside was fearful of getting out of the car before the giants. There was a soft scream of shock and the clapping of light purple heals against the hard concrete as a woman was shoved out of the car, just barely managing to land upon her feet without tearing her short light purple business skirt suite. Her short unevenly cut brown hair intertwined with the dangling light purple earrings on her ears and her eyes burned with anger as she swirled to face the second occupant of the car. With a voice that did more than simply spell her anger, she shouted out a single name in a rather annoyed voice.

"Rick!!"

"What?" a different adolescent male voice countered cockily. "This is my first time here and you're taking way to long to get your butt out of the car."

The women swooped down into the car, grabbed the owner of the voice by the wrist, and drug him so quickly from the car that when she released the blue, black, and, blond blur of a teen, he was sent falling over the guard rails into the ocean. With an indifferent humph, the woman crossed her arms over her chest and slammed her heel down.

"Don't look so stunned. We all know he deserved it."

The boy apparently had not fallen over into the ocean. Instead he had managed to grab a hold of the guard rail at the last second and was now holding on as if for dear life. Erin was the fist over to him. He was a strapping young biker teen wearing black leather boots, black jeans, a black biker jacket over a blue tank top, with black fingerless biker gloves to complete his outfit. His hair showed that it was naturally brown due to the streaks of brown the appeared beneath the layer of bright blond that extended down to the middle of his back. The teen's brown eyes looked up at Erin, primarily at the fact her kimono made her look as if she had wings, and gulped.

"I'm not dead yet, right?" the boy questioned blankly. Erin could only giggle in answer. When the boy found himself floating on a white discus, he added, "Everybody's sure that I'm not dead yet?"

Once he was grounded, Erin pinched him on the arm. He jumped instantly.

"No, idiot, you're not dead yet." Blaze mocked from the shadows. The boy looked at him blankly for a few minutes between massaging his arm.

"Who's that Goth?"

"I'm not Goth!!" The sudden promptness in which Blaze countered the accusation caused a group blink to fall upon him. He gulped and added, "...One too many people called me a Goth when I first joined up..." Erin yet again hid an innocent giggle behind her fan.

"You must be Blaze." the all but forgotten woman smiled. "My name's Alexis. I'm the active Earth ambassador for the Autobots." She then turned to Erin and smiled, "And you must be the 'Magic Erin' I've heard so much about."

Erin blinked in confusion. "You've heard about me? From whom?"

"Ah, there's this kid in the car that wouldn't say a thing on the drive over. Minute she saw how big those four were," the boy thumbed over at Demolisher and the others, "She got spooked. Probably won't budge for all the chocolate on the east coast, too."

He was quickly countered by the fact Alexis had bent back down into the car and was now coaxing someone out. A rather small human hopped down from the car, its feet being hidden by the folds of a long kimono ribbon and skirt. A small bell like the kind one would put around a cat's collar rang out lightly as the small child walked around out from behind the door. She was young, no older than nine or ten years of age, with rose-blond hair pulled up high in one long braid centered near the top of her head that streamed down to meet the middle bow of her kimono sash. She was dressed in a pure white kimono outlined in gold and black patterns around the sleeves and sash. Her bright sapphire eyes darted around the scene like those of a wild rabbit's and she clutched a small baby dragon plush toy cautiously in her arms as if it alone would protect her from the giants that might bring her harm. Once her eyes settled on Erin, she released a gasping squeak of shock. With one fast run, she broke free of Alexis's weak grip on her hand. In another two or three seconds she was floating up to Erin's grip on a white Gate.

"Elexandria!" Erin laughed. The young girl Elexandria wrapped her arms tight around Erin's neck, holding the dragon dangerously by one clawed hand. Erin pulled her back for a moment and questioned, "What are you doing here? Where're your mother and father?" Elexandria was about to reply when the soft shuffle of Hot Shot shifting weight to his opposite foot distracted her. She looked up at the towering flame painted robot and gulped in fear. Erin followed Elexandria's worry stair up to Hot Shot, who waved his index finger down at them.

"Hi," he said with an embarrassed edge to his voice. Erin rolled her eyes in laughter.

"Don't worry about them, El. I bet you had a long trip here." Elexandria nodded her head. She pulled the dragon around so that it was nearly in Erin's face and had it nod its head as well. "And I bet you're hungry, too?" Another nod from the dragon and girl. "How about we go and see if a friend of mine is free and go get lunch at the food court? And then after that I'll give you a guided tour. Is that a deal?" Elexandria nodded her and her dragon's head furiously in agreement.

"Hey, what about me?" the boy from earlier exclaimed. Kicker wrapped his arm around the boy's neck in a friendly grab and laughed,

"Well you are one of my best friend's, Rick! Who do you think is going to show you around?"

"I'd rather the hot gal did..." Rick muttered. Kicker resisted the urge to punch him solidly in the jaw.

Blaze almost laughed at the scene. "You two are twins," he suddenly stated. Both boys looked over at him and stated in unison,

"How'd you know that?"

"I was trained since I was five to be a Shinobi. It's my job to know everything about you before you know anything about me." was the sly reply.

"You've got a twin, Kicker?" Ironhide blinked.

"Yep! Rick, this is the guy Optimus tagged me with. Ironhide, this is my twin brother Rick." Kicker introduced.

"Older twin," Rick corrected.

"Yeah, by half a second!"

"That still makes me older than you!"

"Yeah right, on a technicality maybe!"

"Oh boy," Ironhide sighed to himself, "Two Kickers...? Optimus is going to love this..."

* * *

Elexandria had resolved to walk calmly hand in hand with Erin as the older of the two well dressed girls lead the way down the maze of giant hallways and corridors. Every now and then the two would stop and take a look out the beautiful glass domes at the scenery outside. Whenever an Autobot or Omnicon would pass the duo Elexandria would push tighter against Erin. The passing giant would wave cheerfully down at her and make a comment like,

"Cute kid," or "Great, now there's another Erin around." At the second Erin would laugh and wave the giant down the hall.

It was only when they passed the open door to what looked like a medical facility did one of the giant's call them out.

"Hello," a teasing giant voice echoed from the room at a whisper, "Since when were there two Erins walking around base?" Erin paused, making Elexandria stop and blink. She smiled down at the child and quickly bent down to her height.

"Let's go see what my friend Jet Fire's doing and ask him to lunch?" Elexandria merely nodded, though her attitude held an air of fear about her. Erin gently released her hand and, as expected, Elexandria hid behind the taller as she walked innocently into the room they had passed before. A red one eyed giant was sitting on a cold metal table while another silver one eyed giant used his left hand, which was what looked like a laser, to send sparks flying on his knee. The silver wiped a bead of purple from his brow with his normal right hand and released a sigh before standing up.

"There, you're all done Jet Fire."

"Thanks Red; feels a whole lot better." Jet Fire laughed, flexing the knee to prove his point. With a huff, he turned to face the girls. "So what's with the mini-you hiding behind your back, Erin?"

Erin laughed, "You'll have to excuse Elexandria, Jet Fire. She just got here with Miss. Alexis and Kicker's friend, Rick." At the name Rick, Red and Jet Fire exchanged a look.

"Aw great, Kicker's twin..."

"Just when we didn't need a second Kicker around..." Red added on to the moan. Erin blinked at that.

"He's Kicker's twin?"

"Yep," Jet Fire sighed, hopping gently down off the table, "And he's always bragging that he's older than Kicker by half a second."

"Although that shouldn't make much of a difference," Red sighed. Elexandria poked her head out slightly to get a better look at the giant silver robot, blinking several times almost as if in confusion. Red blinked behind his kind red optic and looked down at her. She instantly jumped and hid again behind Erin. "Hello,"

Erin pushed the shy girl ahead of her, nudging her in the back to emphasize that it was alright to talk to them. Elexandria gulped out a hello while clutching her dragon tight against her heart. Red seemed to see the fear in the child's eye and slowly bent down to her height.

"My name is Red Alert. And who might you be?"

"M-My name is...El...Elexandria..." she finally gulped. As soon as she had worked up the courage to introduce herself, her stomach let out a mild roar in protest of hunger. Red Alert looked blankly at the girl for a moment, where as Jet Fire blinked in confusion, before the two giants laughed lightly at the embarrassed blush rising on Elexandria's cheeks.

"I suppose you two were heading to the food court?" Red Alert questioned, looking now at Erin.

"That was the general plan,"

"Mind if we old geezers tag along? I'm starving myself. Combat training was a pain this morning." Jet Fire mock moaned, flexing his arm to emphasize his point.

"That was also part of the general plan, and you're not old geezers." Erin laughed.

"By your standers we are. I'm over thirty millennia old, and Red Alert's older than me." Jet Fire countered. Elexandria's eyes opened wide in shock.

"Have you ever seen any dragons?" she whispered in question. Surely someone that old might have run across her favorite fairytale creatures? Her answer at first was a few blank stairs from the two giants.

"A...Dragon? What's a dragon?" Elexandria felt her jaw slip in shock.

"I guess you'll have to tell them over lunch. Like it or not, you two are comin' now." Erin laughed. She turned on her heel lightly in a gesture that showed she knew what was coming and they didn't.

* * *

Elexandria rested her head on the guard rail with her pet dragon held limply in one hand and her chin resting softly on the back of the other. She lazily looked up at the stars and sighed. So none of the ancient robots she had asked had seen a dragon... Jet Fire had suggested that she ask the Omnicons if they had run across one in their travels but Erin was not available to take her down to the Omnicons' shops on the lower below sea levels of the city. She was still very skittish around these new strange metallic giants. Her little mind was full of so many piercing questions about why she had been taken from her home to Miss. Alexis by a hooded woman and what had happened to her parents when the strange men that dressed like the silent Mr. Blaze had come to town?

At the same time Elexandria had pulled her head off the guard rail and leaned back to sigh, another more metallic sounding sigh echoed directly besides her. She audibly blinked while a second voice hummed in confusion. At the same time she turned to see who had joined her on the small ledge without her knowledge, a giant green head with one large purple optic and another much larger more mask-like optic turned to face her. The both of them jumped back at the same time and exclaimed gasps of shock. The giant was the first to recover.

"Ma'am, you aren't supposed to be out here!"

"I-I'm sorry...I was just stargazing..." Elexandria gulped. The giant released another sigh before plastering a false but realistic smile on its lips and smiling at the girl.

"It's alright, ma'am. I was under the impression that you were in your quarters, so I wasn't expecting anyone out here. I'm sorry if I startled you." Elexandria stared at the giant for a while, at the false but realistic smile he had put on for her, and through her own innocents and life relieved of pain she could see his own. Without knowing what ailed the giant, she asked softly,

"Do....Do you mind if I stay out here a while longer?"

"Not at all, ma'am; in fact I'd enjoy the company." Elexandria released a small giggle at that, making the giant blink. "Uh...What's so funny?"

"My name's not ma'am, it's Elexandria." she giggled in explanation. The giant blinked in confusion for a few moments, before smiling and laughing lightly in understanding.

"My name's Demolisher, Miss. Elexandria." He did an impromptu bow for the child, making her laugh even more.

The remainder of the night passed in silence and speckled with idle conversations about dragons and sorcerers and, at Elexandria's prompting, and explanation of why Demolisher was all alone at the front gate of Ocean City. Elexandria had the slightest nagging that for some reason her newfound friend was avoiding the key points of her question, and though curiosity edged her to delve deeper into the matter, she let herself stand with the fact mean Decepticons, the kind of robot Demolisher was, with mean giant pet wolves and giant pet falcons had a bad habit of trying to come in when they weren't welcome.

The child finally said her goodbyes and goodnights when the first crimson strings of dawn were crossing over the horizon.

* * *

There was an odd black entity sitting calmly in a small chamber of his master's heart now that watched him with a keen eye and judge stair. With sword outstretched and oath repeated, he awaited his new orders. This time he did not receive permission to rise.

"I'm going to grant you a new skill, my servant, that should aid you in your next mission." his master echoed, "You are to take the Invader secondary fleet to the Plutonian Energon Observatory and rob it dry."

"As you command, my master," There was a light snicker from the spectator, then everything went dark.

"I will have my men begin the upgrade at once." the stranger laughed. He rose from his seat and as simply as if he were taking a morning stroll he walked off the ledge and down to the black collapsed form of Unicron's favorite henchman. "Oh yes," he snickered darkly, "He's perfect for the upgrade."

A black hole appeared beneath the silver sword wielder, absorbing him into the blackness and banishing him from his master's hall.


	9. Chapter 9: Confusing Love

_**Gateway Future**_

Confusing Love

Optimus slowly lowered his fist full of papers back onto his desk, giving room to his one free hand to reach up and massage his temples. The stress relieving method was nothing more than a habit he had acquired from living with humans for far too long, however it was a comforting habit and also a warning to anyone he might be in a meeting with to be careful with their words. His Vice-Commander had walked in right as he had begun to rub his temples. He released a sigh and took his customary seat directly in front of Prime and waited for what he knew was next.

"There's been another Invader attack on one of our solar outposts." Optimus sighed. He tossed the papers in Jet Fire's general direction. With optics closed in silence he listened to the papers shift and crumple in Jet Fire's grip. The report showed that there were no survivors whatsoever.

"And no sign if it was him or not..." his Vice-Commander sighed. After releasing one final sigh, he began, "Well, on the bright side, Miss. Elexandria and Demolisher seem to be great friends now. If anything, that'll be a deterrent for him to return to the Decepticon side of the war. Kicker and Rick have been staying out of trouble," there was a slight prayer of thanks whispered from Optimus' lips at that which made Jet Fire fight back a laugh, "And Swords and Blaze have been behaving themselves like good little Shinobi Gate Keepers."

"And Hot Shot and Sideswipe? How are they dealing with the atmospheric readjustment?"

"Red Alert reports that they've had minor system glitches every now and then, but they've requested permission to rejoin in active Energon patrols. Oh yeah, and Erin wanted me to drop this by." Jet Fire released a small pure white gem onto the table which clattered and clanked against the metal on Prime's desk. Optimus picked it up gently and examined it.

"A little small, don't you think?"

"Nah, fit's fine once yah slip it on. Doesn't get in the way of transforming cogs either." Jet Fire countered, holding his own in view as if to prove his point.

"Have Elexandria and Rick received these amulets as well?" Optimus questioned. He let out a small chuckle of shock when the gem contracted to fit perfectly over his wrist.

"I'm pretty sure they have. I know Elexandria has at least. Rick, though... Well, you know how he can be."

Optimus released another sigh at that. He slowly turned his chair so that he was looking out the upper window in his office and muttered under his breath,

"Oh yes...And that's what I'm afraid of..."

"Ever heard of a dragon before?" At that Prime returned to looking at his second and blinked.

"A what?" Jet Fire let out a light laugh.

"A dragon. Red Alert and I got a good twenty minute explanatory lecture on what a dragon was from Miss. Elexandria yesterday over lunch. You know that little stuffed toy she's always carrying around? That's a model of a type of dragon. She's hoping they're more than just fairytales."

At this sudden change of topic, the problems that haunted the Commander of the Autobot Forces seemed to melt away into the background.

* * *

For some odd reason the girl continued to dance around his feet.

"Please won't you come with me Mr. Demolisher?" Elexandria echoed yet again.

"I'm sorry, Miss. Elexandria, but I have to stay here." Demolisher repeated for what seemed like the hundredth time. Before Elexandria could repeat her pout, Rick burst out the top observation window. He dashed quickly towards the door, which had now been shut and locked, and began to pound on it.

"Hey!! Let me in!! This isn't funny, Miss. Alexis!!"

"What happened?" Demolisher blinked.

"She kicked me out for annoying her again!" Rick snapped. Demolisher looked from Rick to Elexandria then back to Rick. He picked Rick up off the observation window and set him gently next to the still prancing Elexandria.

"Miss. Elexandria, since I can't go with you have Rick take you down to the Omnicon shops." Demolisher suggested. Elexandria looked at the now confused boy. She blinked for a few moments and looked down at the dragon that looked back up at her. They both nodded their heads in agreement.

"He'll do. By, Demolisher!" Without warning Rick found himself being dragged back into Ocean City by a hyperactive nine year old. Only the sound of Demolisher's sigh of relieve answered his echoing question for an explanation.

* * *

Every Decepticon was waiting with wide eyes and hopeful sparks. They stood poised to move yet as stationary as stone before a large metallic almost tank-like warrior incased near the core of Unicron.

"Fellow Decepticons," the green giant that seemed to lead them echoed, "I think we've finally got enough Energon to release our beloved leader Megatron!"

"About slaggin' time!" a black and yellow orange faced helicopter huffed in annoyance. The green giant ignored him.

"What are you waiting for, an invite? Wake him up already!!"

"Hesh, touchy..."

A small glowing green star-shaped container was placed against the sleeping warrior's chest plate. The warrior began to glow.

* * *

Elexandria could not have been happier, where as Rick could have cared less. The child had recently discovered that one of the Omnicons had seen something similar to a Chinese good luck dragon far out in deep space. In all honesty the relativity of this matter was small and insignificant, but still it made the youth smile and gave Rick an excuse not to show up in Prime's office.

Red Alert, however, was another matter that the boy could not avoid. In fact Elexandria made it impossible for the teen to avoid a confrontation with the medical robot.

"You know Prime wants to speak with you, Rick." Red Alert warned the boy.

"Already heard, ain't goin'."

"Bye!" Elexandria squeaked. Within seconds she had bolted away from the teen towards the front gate. Rick blinked at the dust trail blankly before barking over his shoulder,

"Told to keep an eye on her!" and running after the girl. Red Alert processed this for a few seconds. He let out a sigh and reached up his hand to rub his sore temples as it all fit into place. His gentle stride was soon following the almost winded boy.

* * *

Demolisher's face was set deep in a glare. His optics were trained directly into the noon sky at a black discus of energy that was slowly forming in the northeast. There was no mistake of what or who this portal belonged to. He clicked his com on and radioed the main tower. Confirmation of his fears and a prep alarm rang out within moments.

The Terracons and Decepticons were on the attack.

* * *

It was interesting how only just now there was any sign of warning about the coming attack. He watched from on high, hidden from all sensors and visual optics by a strange new shield that had been installed by the black being he had seen within the core of his master. Apparently it was powered by the energy of his spark so that it did not waste precious Energon that could be put to better use in the revival of his master. When the bright red blur of machine guns followed by the whir of parts as the newly repaired and updated defense grid for the city was activated and the fighters launched, he slipped into the plant. His master was a true genius.

The plan was so simple and elegant that even he could not fail his master now!

* * *

Both Hot Shot and Sideswipe raised their weapons and prepared for confrontation with the enemy. This would be the first time either of them had seen combat with a Terracon, but it would not be the first with a Decepticon. Also as if in an effort to ebb their fears the two Shinobi Gate Keepers were stationed in the same room as them.

"You ready, bro?" Sideswipe whispered. He could almost feel the worry coming of his emotional sibling, but knew he would be fine in the heat of battle when he replied,

"Yeah, so long you two stay out of our way." His comment was towards the humans. Neither of them looked worried. In fact, they looked eerily calm by simply leaning against either a wall or by sitting with their head down and feet extended before them.

"Hey, are you two deaf? The alarms are blaring and you're just...!" A bright red gate opened before the Shinobi named Swords, extending a large handle out into the air and interrupting the complaint mid breath. Swords grabbed this handle and used it as a lever to hoist himself to his feet. He tossed back both his overly large hat and extended a sword half a Transformer's height in one smooth fluid action that showed he was lethal with his trade. Despite the fact the sword was over three times his size he was still easily able to lean it against his shoulder without damaging the wall.

"Hold out your wrists." The two robots exchanged a look of confusion. "I said hold out your wrists!" His voice left no room for argument, and the two instantly obeyed. With a simple flick of his own wrist, the two were shackled with two different gemmed bracelets. Hot Shot's was bright orange highlighted with yellow, where as Sideswipe's was silver laced with orange. "A gift from Erin. One Gate Guard per fool, just as a safety precaution. They will activate themselves when the time is right."

"And when exactly will the time be right?" Hot Shot blinked.

"When he," Swords brought his blade to point at what seemed like a blank packet of space, "Has either retreated or fallen, Blaze and I will be happy to explain everything to you."

Sideswipe and Hot Shot exchanged a look of confusion that was soon replaced with a look of shock. A ragging Blaze burst around the so called empty space, illuminating a ghostly silvery outline of an all too familiar figure.

* * *

The heat was incredible! The fact that these two simple humans had been able to see him, cloaked as he was with the black being's new equipment, was incredible! He drew his sword while in the inferno and charged the blade master.

* * *

Swords blocked the hit from the charging shadow with ease. It almost seemed as if he was toying with the hidden enemy as his sword moved to block every blow yet he himself hardly seemed to struggle against the blade. He signaled something to his second with the slightest tilt of the head. Blaze circled around behind the silver shadow and with one well placed fireball, he extinguished his cloak.

Hot Shot's optics widened in shock, then narrowed in anger.

"Move aside! Starscream's mine!!" Swords had just enough time to move away before Hot Shot had charged in. With one well placed hit to the jaw, Starscream was down upon the floor. With another scream of long bent up pain, Hot Shot had the swordsbot pinned beneath his knees. His hands flailed to get out of the lock Hot Shot's own stronger, younger hands pinned him under.

Blaze looked between the two, primarily at the now glowing gemstone on Hot Shot's wrist, and cursed. Swords echoed the same when the gemstone erupted into light and the once black armor on the now viciously struggling warrior began to peal away to revile white and red more familiar, stronger armor.

Hot Shot looked on with shock as half of Starscream's black head parted way for a familiar blue optic and red aged face.

"H-Hot...Shot...?"

* * *

Rick had only one thing to say to the girl that continued to run as if her life depended on it. He grabbed her by the wrist and shouted almost point blank,

"Are you insane?! That way's the way outside! The enemy is outside!!"

With a strange new strength the girl ripped free of his grip and shouted, "Mr. Demolisher might be in trouble!!"

"And he'll be in more trouble if you go out there!" Rick countered again. Elexandria glared at him. Her dragon seemed to glare at him. They were just within the light of the exit, just within reach of the child's goal. Rick was the wrong person at the right time to stop her. She kicked him in the shin and ran. Once he recovered, Rick followed. "Damn brat! I'm so gonna get grounded for this..."

* * *

Demolisher fired round after round into the advancing troops. It was only when a familiar voice he had half prayed to hear half dreaded to return ordered him to cease fire did he stop.

Like a ghost, Megatron in all his renewed glory, in his new white armor and blue galactic crown with his prized sword strung tight over his left shoulder, descended before him.

"My loyal Decepticon Demolisher... I do hope you were planning to open the front door for us. Anything else I might consider treason." Megatron snickered darkly.

"L-Lord...M-Megatron... Is...it really you, sir?" Demolisher whispered. Megatron slapped him across the face.

"That's for refusing to rejoin the Decepticons sooner, fool. Now open this gate!"

The gate opened by itself. Demolisher blinked, turning back to look at it. Inside was a familiar kimono wearing figure racing towards him being chased by a teen in black cursing at the figure ahead to stop. Instead of the girl stopping, time stopped. It was now or it was never. Would he rejoin his allies, his comrades, his sole friend, his leader? Or would he stay with a little kimono wearing, dragon loving human child who had nothing to offer him except companionship and true friendship?

Megatron received a rude awakening when Demolisher opened fire on him. He turned his head over his shoulder and shouted at the duo racing towards certain death.

"Rick, get Elexandria out of here! NOW!!!" He then turned to face Megatron, a fire in his optics the aged commander had never seen before. "Sorry, sir, but I can't let you pass. Not only do you not have clearance, but you're threatening to blow my home and my friends sky high. You're not the Megatron I swore allegiance too all those eons ago. I hold no oath of loyalty to you," and he added out of habit, "Sir."

"So you'd betray me for this hunk of junk?" Megatron growled. He whipped the leaking Energon from his lip and nodded his head in shame. "How pathetic..." His cannon came to bare and his main weapons came online. "Then die with this scrap heap!!"

Demolisher raised his hands in defense of his core. He heard Elexandria calling out his name at the break between the city interior and exterior. Weather the blast was truly meant for him or if Megatron had turned it at the last second, he never knew. All Demolisher knew was that Rick had finally captured Elexandria and had covered her right as the entryway to Ocean City collapsed upon the duo. Demolisher saw Rick tighten his eyes in pain seconds before the first rocks hit them, he heard the boy yelling something lost in the crumpling sounds of the falling rubble, and he saw both the boy and the all but smothered Elexandria become lost in the dust, iron, and ashes of the falling ceiling. And he heard Megatron's all too familiar cackle sound out at the end of the eternity, when both the children were lost under a sea of metal scraps and concrete unevenly slaughtered bricks. With a demon's reflexes the aged and infuriated warrior returned fire.

The war against his former master had begun.


	10. Chapter 10: Heaven and Hell

_**Gateway Future**_

Heaven and Hell

"H-Hot...Shot...?" His voice was full of confusion and disarray. Something in the back of his mind began to scream at him, however he ignored it. "...You are...Hot Shot, are you not...?"

"S-Starscream...?" Hot Shot whispered. He relaxed his grip on the swordsbot slightly and slowly brought both himself and the addled halfway red and white halfway black fighter to his feet. His optics, both silver and light blue, ran across the room as if to try and find something he had lost. He paused when he caught sight of Sideswipe – to be exact, he stopped when he caught sight of the thin scar over Sideswipe's spark.

"Side...Sideswipe...? What happened...to your chest...?" he whispered in question.

"You don't remember?" Sideswipe questioned. The swordsbot looked at him curiously.

"Remember? Remember what...?"

The voice in the back of his mind was screaming now. It was screaming at him to attack, and slowly, his will was failing.

* * *

They had been saved, somehow. He tried to think back as to how exactly they had been saved, but nothing besides a pressing pain exploding thought both his body and mind met his query. The soft ruffle of a scared shaking child and her pet stuffed dragon pulling tighter against him brought his mind back to the present. So she was safe as well. The next step was to escape the prison of concrete and steal that had encapsulated them and make it to the safety of the Autobot lines. Laser fire dulled by the tonnage of steal around him echoed in his ears and made the girl he had wrapped himself tightly around wiggle closer in fear. Rick looked down at his new charge, her own scared sapphire eyes meeting his somehow calming brown.

"Are you alright, kid?" Rick questioned. The girl merely nodded. A smart idea on her part, seeing as if they didn't escape their prison soon the duo would run out of air.

Something in the back of Rick's mind registered this and grew worried. Rick was aware that it was not his own conscious that was growing worried with this fact echoing in the back of his mind, but another sentient conscious. It was a powerful consciousness as well – overwhelmingly powerful – and it too was trapped with them in the rubble. He fought back a gulp of fear as he realized that the owner of this consciousness was trapped in the same concrete and steal cadge that they were. With wide eyes, Rick looked up into the blackness of the concrete cave that had formed around them, and slowly he stood up. Elexandria instantly shifted her grip to his leg. She gasped and nearly cut off the circulation in Rick's leg when four burning red demonically arched eyes glared down at them from what had to be the ceiling and a puff of red fire illuminated a giant blacker than night scaled muzzle and rows upon rows of razor sharp dagger shaped teeth.

The powerful consciousness in the back of Rick's mind seemed to grow even stronger when the glowing blood red eyes locked their sights on him. A voice seemed to echo with the new consciousness, echoing booming questions in his ears. Rick broke his eyes away from the four that marked where the ceiling was and slammed his hands over his ears in an effort to block out the voice that was ringing in his ears. His eyes were wide in pain and his knees became like gelatin. As he collapsed down to his knees and screamed at the voice in his mind to leave him alone, the four glowing eyes turned so that only two could be seen. Elexandria recognized the cry of a dragon in pain, and recognized its owner with a gasp of shock, fear, and awe when the cadge was shattered, allowing sunlight to penetrate the darkness and revile the owner of the four demon eyes in all its glory.

* * *

Demolisher was sent crashing back into the wall, followed by Megatron's fist grabbing his throat. His hands instantly snapped over Megatron's in a futile effort to dislodge his former master and free himself to continue the battle. Demolisher knew that if he didn't win soon, Elexandria was doomed to suffocation if she hadn't been squished by the falling derbies.

A burning black darkness penetrated the cadge of concrete and scrap iron, pausing the fighting both around the entrance and the battles in visual rage of the spectacle. A giant roar echoed out from where there once had been a cadge, overlapping a human scream and gasp of fright. Red Alert was blasted back into the depths of Ocean City when one of two scaly black wings shot back into a wide arch. Two giant scale-covered hands with three claws extended outwards in a cadge-like shape with a fourth located at a six o'clock position on the hand to provide balance to the remainder of the giant oak-sized muscular scaled leg were firmly planted into the concrete, providing the giant double monster truck sized body natural support. Two more such legs were bent, allowing the giant reptilian-like creature to be seated, though how comfortably it was seated had yet to be noted nor did anyone care at that present moment. The black head, with two demonic blood red glowing eyes on either side of its face, stretched out on a neck that was a fifth of the body's total length and roared as if in pain while its tail whipped out behind it, knocking new sections of the entryway into simple dust bites. From the tip of its tail to the end of its muzzle, the giant beast was tall two Optimus Primes standing one on top of another.

"What in the name of Primus is that...?" Megatron whispered. The beast turned on him and before he knew what was going on it had lunged for him. Needless to say the 'Great Decpticon Leader' screamed like a sissy and ran for his life. Had their jaws not been so slacked, both Demolisher and Elexandria would have laughed at the scene. The beast let out one giant fireball after the revived dead, who answered by turning back and bringing his sword to a guard position.

"It has an incredible power for a simple illusion..." Megatron growled between gritted teeth. Demolisher gulped. The tail of the beast was overly close to his own midsection, and he had seen what that tail could do at not even half power to the reinforced titanium on the walls surrounding the entrance to the base. He tried to push himself back further into the wall in an effort to disappear when the two glowing blood red eyes closest to him seemed to catch him in their sights. The beast back-winged so that it was almost standing straight on its hind legs in the air and raised its fore claw to rip Demolisher to shreds.

"Stop it!" The beast's claws stopped only meters from Demolisher's armor. It turned in an almost confused manor towards the small painting child on the bridge. "Stop it, Mr. Black Dragon! You're hurting him!"

Her hand was outstretched into a pointer aimed, not at Demolisher, but at Rick. He was doubled over now, holding tight to his head and whispering back at something only he could hear to be silent and to go away. The black dragon slowly, deliberately flapped back to the bridge, landing with an echoing thump a few feet away from the doubled over teen and aggravated child. It walked forward slightly, confusion, worry, pain, all echoing in its eyes. Just as it was about to extend a claw in what almost looked like an effort to comfort the boy, a blast of red energy sliced past its arm. Both the dragon and Rick arched their backs and grabbed at their right arm a few inches away from the shoulder, and echoed out a single yell of pain. The dragon's blood red eyes blazed towards Red Alert, his blaster still smoking from the recent expenditure of energy. He was covered in dents and small puddles of purplish black liquid were forming down around his feet – the results of open puncture wounds that covered him from head to foot. Rick looked back down at the ground, his eyes covered in shadows.

"Mr. Rick! Are you alright?" Elexandria demanded. The dragon's attention was again brought to Rick and its eyes seemed to soften.

"...Leave..." Elexandria stopped for a moment. "Not you..." His eyes were blazing now in hidden fires which he turned upon the black beast that towered over him. "You! Leave, now!" The dragon whined and whimpered almost pathetically. "I said leave, NOW!"

A glowing silver gate snapped open about a hundred feet above the dragon. It closed its eyes as if it were saddened by something before opening its wings to their fullest extent. A rich depressing bugle sounded from its throat as it rose from the ashes of the bridge, and with its depressing cry the Decpticon/Terracon forces made their own retreat. When the last fleck of black from the beast had been swallowed by the silver of the target-like gate, Rick's eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed into a very startled Elexandria's arms.

* * *

His hand went slamming down into what had been the bed he had occupied moments ago and he screamed off a single terrain curse. Erin slammed her hands over Elexandria's ears so that the child would not have to hear such a black curse. Once it was clear, she bent down to the child's height and ordered her to run off to the adjoining room where her giant warrior friend was recovering from his own injuries. Elexandria left without delay, pausing only for a moment to look up at the aggravated giant that had cursed. With another small gulp she bolted for Demolisher's bedside.

"Damn!" Hot Shot slashed his fist into another wall, creating a crater sized dent in it. He slowly brought his hand next to his spark, looking down at it and the gem bracelet he had been ordered to wear for who knew what reason. "Damn it all!" The bracelet was soon dislodged and shattering against the cold metal ground. "What the hell happened...?"

"I'd like to know the answer to that one as well, Hot Shot." Optimus' cold voice cut through the heated youth like a cold knife through hot butter. The four occupants of the room turned to face the two newcomers with glances anywhere from blazing anger to disillusioned respect. Kicker was one of those who looked at Prime with a burning glare of anger as he stood by his twin's bed. Rick's eyes were open, but he had refused to say anything. It was as if he were a shell without a soul now. Optimus turned to the Autobot he had assigned to be Kicker's partner and ordered in a suggestive gentle way, "Ironhide, why don't you take Kicker and Rick back to their room?"

"Yes sir," Ironhide answered halfheartedly. He gently picked Rick up in his hand and ignored the cold but gentle kick Kicker had planted on his face. He whispered to the angered teen just low enough for only the boy to hear and no one else, "I know, I know, I hate it too. Let's get Rick someplace familiar. It might just snap him out of shock."

Optimus and his Vice-Commander watched the trio exit the medical wing. Once it was clear they were gone, the duo turned towards Hot Shot and Erin. Optimus walked calmly over to the rejuvenation tank and softly brushed his fingers over the glass above Sideswipe's chest as if he were to lay a hand on the recovering robot boy in a comforting gesture. Jet Fire turned to look at Hot Shot and questioned gently,

"So what happened down below?"

"I don't feel like talking, Jet Fire... Why not ask those two humans that were with us?" Hot Shot answered. He was about to storm off when a giant white gate opened in front of him. A burst of energy as large as he was grabbed him off the ground and deposited him back on the bed he had been seated on. The white gate closed once the energy had vanished back within it, leaving behind two looks of startled shock and confusion, a third look of indifferent opinion over the event, and a fourth look of anger from the gate's owner.

"If the both of them were able to be found somewhere on this base, we would have asked them already. I may have the Gates of Ying and Yang, but that doesn't mean I can do everything." Erin snapped coldly. Hot Shot looked at her blankly for a few moments.

"Y-You...did that?"

"Yes." Her glare was as cold as ice. A fear Hot Shot had never known before began to well up in his spark. Angering this strange human child would not be good for his health. Erin released a cold sigh, loosing her tight grip on her surroundings, and turned up to look at him with a gentle understanding smile. "Hot Shot, please, tell us what happened down below in the Energon storage center."

As if he really had a choice?

* * *

As all things came to light, the cold penetrating darkness of the room he shared with his twin brought him out of his spell of illusion. It was right as Kicker was about to leave the room that he spoke out to the darkness,

"I feel like my whole body and soul have just been violated." His voice was almost trembling like his hands as he pulled himself tight in a hug. Kicker laid a hand over his twin's shoulder, startling the boy.

"It's alright, Rick. I'm here..." Rick looked back down towards the cold darkness of the ground and whispered,

"But so is he..."

"He who?" Kicker questioned. Rick turned to look at his twin with eyes a mix of fright and the smallest tinge of delight.

"Obsidian, the Black Dragon. It's weird... It's like I can hear everything he's thinking about, and he can hear everything I'm thinking about... It almost feels like he's in my blood." Rick explained. His voice seemed distant, yet close; it was fearful yet a hint of excitement lingered in it. "I don't know if I should fear him or accept him as a part of myself."

Kicker wrapped his twin in a hug – a rare thing that startled the half a second older sibling. The younger pulled himself tighter against the older twin's back, almost as if to breath in the black ash scent of his hair. Memories of earlier childhood times when Rick would give the boy piggyback rides echoed through their minds almost in complete unison.

"Rick... I haven't seen you since I first went to Cybertron with dad... I don't want to lose the only other guy in my family that comes even close to understanding me." Kicker confessed to the darkness. Rick slowly reached up and grabbed Kicker's wrist, the same that was wrapped with the ashy grey bracelet Erin had given him. It flashed bright silver before adding a new silver charm to its count – a replica of the Black Dragon.

"And I don't want to lose you, Kicker. I don't want to lose myself, either, but..."

"Hey," Kicker suddenly cut in, "You said you could understand Obsidian's thoughts, right?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Maybe he can explain how he showed up in this world?" Rick scuffed at that, laughing,

"That part's easy, Kicker. I opened the Gate of Spirits and brought him here from his home dimension out of a reflex action when the entrance to Ocean City nearly squished me and that kid. I think he was so disoriented from the trip that he pushed a bit too hard on asking questions up here," Rick paused to point to his head, "And that's what caused me to freak like that."

"So it was first time blues?" Kicker questioned.

"And it should probably be the last time, too." Rick sighed. His eyes drifted back against the blackness of the room's silver walls and his mind began to wander again. Obsidian's own mind echoed like a daunting door before his own thoughts. "Stop it!"

"Rick?" Kicker jumped in alarm.

"No, not you bro... Obsidian's trying to push his way through my mind, understand my thinking without permission." Rick explained. His breath almost seemed labored from the effort of returning the dragon's mind to its own corner of his consciousness. Obsidian bowed within his mind's eye, and much to Rick's astonishment, it spoke to him.

'I am Obsidian the Black Dragon, as you already know. I shall remain hidden in the folds of your consciousness till I am needed, then I shall return.' He did an impromptu dragon bow before Rick's eyes then vanished into the shadows like the waning light.

"He...just...vanished..." Rick whispered. Kicker grabbed his twin tight by the hand.

"Hey, I got an idea, Rick." Rick blankly looked at his twin. "Let's go ask Erin for advice."

"Yah mean the babe?"

"Yeah, the babe. Yah see, she's a Gate Keeper, which means she has control over a Gate, which is what you used to summon Obsidian. She probably knows what's going on in your head." Kicker explained. Rick slowly stood up from his bed, his nerves yet again rattled.

"Right now, Kicker, I wouldn't care if I got squished and found out the hard way what's going on."

* * *

He felt dead. The small red mini F-1 racer styled robot painted red and black, the reverse color scheme of his master, felt dead and cold as the news that had been delivered to him secondhand through a passing rumor sunk down into his spark. A silver hand was placed on his shoulder followed by a series of beeps echoing through the corridor he had collapsed in. These beeps were to the small being as words were to men and Transformers.

"It's alright, Swindle." a silver robot that looked to have been modeled of a strike series jet plane whispered in their native tong. Two others stood behind it, one looking to have been modeled after a discus recognizance plane and the other modeled off a passenger cargo carrier. The threesome shared a similar color scheme of silver, blue, and white with tips and edges laced in jet night black. Swindle brought himself to his feet and turned to the trio with optics stinging in fresh purple tears.

"Alright? Alright! It's far from alright! Unicron...Unicron turned him into a monster! He doesn't even remember his own comrades! He can' even remember his own name!" Swindle snapped, slapping away the friendly hand. The second of the trio spoke up with a voice of beeps that seemed aged.

"We know. Master Starscream's been altered by more than just Unicron's power, though, and in that lies the key to returning his memories and his freedom to him. At least that's what we hope we can do." Swindle looked at this second. He whipped his tears with the back of his arm and sniffled,

"How so?"

"We've done some research on the internal scans the base automatically did when the alarm was raised to an intruder in the Energon Depot, and we think we've found what caused his memory blackout." the third of the trio stated.

"Swindle... We're going to ask the Gate Keeper Erin for help."


	11. Chapter 11: Time That Stood Still

Iniora: See Author's notice at end.

_**Gateway Future**_

Time That Stood Still

They both looked down upon the black stealth jet that had hobbled back into his master's heart begging for a merciful end to his failure with eyes that echoed a similar taste of disgust. He was unconscious now, standing in what the greater of the two watchers had called a 'Regeneration Status Pod'. There was something in his eyes that, despite the fact they were a deep dark silver in their inactive status, held a rekindled flame of disobedience and disloyalty to his master. Something in his comrade's pet had been awakened and this something was a power that could not be dealt with, that much he was sure of.

"Unicron," the Invader Commander began dryly.

"Yes, Commander?" Unicron answered. The Invader could tell that he too had seen the change in his pet just by listening to the disgust in his voice.

"Your pet has outlived his usefulness to our cause,"

"Agreed. However, there is one last task he can accomplish for us. The human Gate Keeper, the one with the duel gates?" The Invader Commander flinched at the very notion of the child.

"Yes, what of Erin Topaz?"

Unicron seemed taken aback as he voiced the shocked question, "You know her name?"

"That detail is of little importance. How shall your pet's final act unfold in a useful manor to us?" the Commander demanded. Unicron cleared his vocal transmitters before continuing on with his plan.

A dark smirk crossed the thin line that served as the Commander's lips as Unicron explained his plan in detail. This dark smirk, once small, began to spread into a demonic smile that stretched from ear to ear when the final echoes of the pet's last waltz echoed through his hearing.

* * *

Where was he? Voice echoed around his head, unfamiliar distant voices. One soft boy's voice let out a squeak of laughter directly above him. A second more demanding voice answered the squeak. He knew it wasn't his own voice that had answered the question. Instinct began to direct his motions, forcing him to sit up and open his eyes. The source of the squeak, a small boy with light black hair and brilliant blue eyes, blinked in his vision in a confused manor.

"Sis!" the boy shouted back behind him, kindly turning his head before shouting in his ear, "Sis, his eyes are blood red!"

"Huh? What are you talking about, Teno?" a second stronger feminine voice question in confusion. The boy's face was replaced by a tall young woman with flowing electric blue hair that fell down around the center of her chest over her right ear in a flowing brad. Her own eyes were a soft heaven blue color and matched the younger boy's almost perfectly. "Wow, they are. Good morning, stranger."

"...Are you an angel?..." he whispered on instinct alone. The woman blinked, before lifting her head up and letting out a roar of laughter.

"Hell no! I'm more of a devil than an angel!" She turned to look at the boy who was off in the background and barked, "Don't just stand there, Teno! Go tell mom and dad the guy's up and he's got cool looking eyes!"

"But I want to talk to him too, Terin!" Teno huffed.

Small leather-clad feet pounded against solid oak while tight black jeans shifted against a linen black long sleeved thin waterproof-looking jacket. Underneath the jacket was a white plain t-shirt spotted with two tiny flecks of red and brown. He looked over at Teno once he was sitting upright in the soft feather bed, then looked blankly at the young woman whom he had mistaken for an angel. She was dressed in a similar black tank top with a black waterproof-looking jacket hanging loosely over her shoulders. The sleeves were shorter than normal, however due to the way the jacket hung, exposing the straps of her tanktop and her whole neck to the tops of her shoulders, a normal person couldn't tell how long the sleeves really were at first glance. She had fingerless silver biker gloves over her hands that made soft rustling noses whenever they brushed against her silver jeans.

"Oh shush and go get the folks!" the girl, Terin, huffed back at the younger boy. He looked between Terin and Teno and finally asked a question that had surfaced in his mind several times already.

"...Um...Excuse me... Do you...know who I am?"

* * *

Blaze sat quietly outside of the small farmhouse. He was hidden behind a vale of shadowed moonlight so well that only a Shinobi of Swords' caliber could have spotted him. He saw his friend dressed in regular civilian's cloths – a black t-shirt, black jeans, and he could only guess tennis shoes with a tight blood red string of bandages wrapped around his black speckled red head of hair – speaking with the adults of the household.

He saw every word that was spoken between the group. An internal debate began between his wanting to swoop in and retrieve his friend and a more pressing urge to leave him to a chance to live peacefully. Finally, Blaze let his consciousness direct him away from the small farming community back towards Ocean City, over forty miles away from his current location.

Erin was bound to be having a field day worrying about what had happened to the duo. Blaze, however, took his time. Looking up at the stars, he guess that if he kept up his snail's pace, he'd be back by sunrise. Perfect. The madder Erin was, the better his mood would be. He needed to get into a good brawl or two right then, if only to cool his anger at himself for allowing such a mentally fractured enemy to escape, and at the cost of Swords' memories as well.

"Damned idiot... You better not get killed while you're on vacation..."

* * *

There was a rather strong stench of extreme worry mixed with anger, frustration, and furry that echoed through the halls of Ocean City in an almost tangible aura. Hot Shot was dead silent at the report the now found and treated Blaze had delivered to the same group he had been venting his anger to before.

"I suppose then," Erin began with a surprisingly joyful tone of voice, "That if anything, we should mark up two good things about the past battle."

"Good things? Good things!" Hot Shot almost snapped.

"Yes, good things. One – Swords isn't dead and he isn't going to be caught up in these sorts of deadly battles anymore. Two – we know Starscream still has his memories; they've simply been locked away by an Invader component." Erin explained gently. Hot Shot looked at her blankly for a few minutes, before finally asking,

"An Invader component? What the hell is an Invader component!" Before Erin could answer, a voice that some had feared never to hear again answered for her.

"An Invader is an alien life form that seeks to populate earth and wipe out the human race. An Invader component is a small piece of Invader technology that is specified to one specific job in a larger Invader machine." Rick's voice answered from the entrance. Everyone turned to face him with eyes and optics a mix of glee and worry, or in a mix of confusion as was Blaze's reaction. Kicker was supporting his twin slightly on one side, with Ironhide providing a giant combination backdrop and safety net in case Rick began to feel faint and fall again.

"How the hell do you know that?" Blaze demanded. In answer, Rick tapped his temple lightly with his right hand.

"There're bonuses to have a dragon's consciousness sleeping in the back of your head. One of 'em just happens to be that he fills yah in on stuff like why Kicker and the others have to wear those sometimes fashion-challenged bracelets." Rick explained, smirking.

"Rick, I'm glad to see that you're awake." Optimus smiled.

"Yeah. For a while there, some of us were thinkin' you'd never snap out of it." Jet Fire echoed. Rick let out a light laugh and thumbed over to his twin, laughing,

"With this annoying twin hanging on me twenty-four seven? How could I not have snapped out of it?"

"Hey!" Kicker laughed, grabbing his twin in a headlock, "I don't know if I should say thanks or no fare!" Blaze remained deafly silent.

"Did you say... a dragon?" The question was so soft hardly anyone could hear it.

"Yeah. Turns out I've got the Gate of Spirits, and a kick-butt black dragon to boot." Rick answered calmly. Blaze stood from his seat at the medical table without word or emotion. He walked calmly past Rick and whispered,

"Don't let your guard down around the beast your Gate creates even for a second. If you do, you might lose your mind to it – or worse, you might lose your soul."

"Blaze! You don't have to scare him back into shock!" Erin reprimanded.

"I was only telling him of the truth. Not every Gate Keeper is as fortunate as you to have Gates that keep each other in balance." Blaze countered. He left the room before Erin could counter his statement, leaving her to sigh,

"Sometimes that Shinobi really ticks me off..."

* * *

There was unusual silence from the Shinobi instructor, which normally meant one of her famous pop-tests was on the way. She stood hiding just within the light of the door, her arms crossed, her body relaxed in tentative silence.

Flowing raven hair dotted with robin's egg blue spots of color spiraled down in a tight, controlled braid to the center of her back. The trademark flowing black trench coat hid both the assortment of randomized Gate-born weaponry and a simple grey tank top and jeans from view. Shades as black as a raven's wing hid her eyes constantly, leaving only the daring to guess what gems lay hidden behind darkness's veil.

"Um... Lady Twin...?"

Twin, as she was known as around the Western Base, looked up towards the daring lower-class Shinobi trainee. Said trainee gulped, loosing his nerve.

Twin stood up from her slouched position against the wall, smiling warmly at what was once a brave young boy.

"Sorry – daydreaming. Back to the lesson; Gatekeeper of Guardianship, I believe it was your turn to be on the offensive."

* * *

Erin lifted her head slightly, looking up at the midnight sky. Blood red stars sparkled in warning of possible death, of bloodshed. She pushed the small, well written note tightly against her heart, almost as if afraid to loose it.

She knew what was going to happen if she did what was asked of her. How many years had see been running from it? From what other people considered perfection? Now that she'd found something so close to peace, her gift, her curse, was about to break it apart. She'd tried running. That'd worked _so_ well. Not.

Soft, almost pleading beeps echoed behind her. She smiled softly in the midnight wind, almost laughing at some secrete pain.

"Alright," she turned to face the small F-1 racer behind her, "Here's what we've got to do."

* * *

The Commander snapped to his feet, his fist clenching the formal request tightly, squishing it into dust.

"You want to _what!_"

Twin leaned against the open morning sun, looking out into the still rosy afternoon light as if she hadn't a care in the world.

"I want," she repeated as if this were the hundredth repetition of her sentence this hour, "To track down Erin Topaz and our two missing Shinobi, Blaze and Swords."

"It's suicide, even for you!" the Commander boomed. Twin tipped her head towards him, shaking her head in a mock-scolding manner and smirking teasingly,

"Joseph, Joseph, Joseph. If there's one thing I should have taught you, it's that I, more often times than not, know what I'm getting into."

"But Twin..." the Commander's voice reached a squeak of protest, which died to the tinniest gurgle of a complaint when Twin raised her hand for silence.

"I've decided to stop running, and I think it's time you did to. Shinobi Section Commander Joseph Gia Gigues, I think it's time to brush off Ye Old Horn o War, don't you?"

The Commander slowly sank down into his chair, his once billowing concern deflating, leaving him with nothing to stand on but hard oak floor. He unwrinkled the notice of reassignment slowly, painstakingly, pushing out every last crinkle he could find.

"Very well then, Twin; but you know the Hi-Commander's not going to like this." Joseph sighed, slowly sweeping his signature and seal across the bottom of the page.

"Good," Joseph pinned her with a death glare. She turned her back to him, smile hidden under layers of shadow.

"Chaos, Joseph. Chaos is what keeps order in balance. This place has too much order and not enough Chaos."

_I've bought us some time, but not enough. I'll be there soon._

_Plots are burning within plots. Devils are planning. The world is near its breaking point. There is far too much order where there should be Chaos._

_Sleep, little one. The world shall not end before you do._

_For how much longer must my puppets go unchecked?_

_Sleep. All is well tonight._

_But how long will it last?_

_How long...?_

_

* * *

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Iniora: This is it, folks. _Gateway Future_ ends here and now. How long before a sequel, some might be asking? Don't know. There are shadows still hiding, a mystery folding around this new Twin lady. Swords is out cold while Erin is trying to safe Starscream's life.

To be honest, I have no clue if I will ever pick this story up again. However, know this. For now and until I make a sequel, this story is fin.

_**OFFICIAL END OF GATEWAY FUTURE**_


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